Phoenix Wright: Guardian Angels
by Black Scepter
Summary: Three years have passed since RL. Phoenix now has a family and he is still a top notch defense lawyer. However when an elusive enemy plans to release a secret that would devastate the world, Phoenix is once again thrust into a battle between good and evil
1. Prologue: The City of Angels

_The doors open, a writer walks in, he places his hands on his hips and surveys his audience._

"Hello, if you have not read my work for the PW area before I'm Michael Fri of Black Scepter. If you have then you would remember my previous story: Revenant Lawyer."

_He folds his arms and gives a confident smile._

"I am pleased to say; I have returned with the sequel to my story. I sincerely hope I can recapture the same flair that Revenant Lawyer had, I've learned a lot from when I first started, and I hope this story can prove it."

_He unfolds his arms and he takes out a piece of paper and speaks to the audience once again._

"To help me write the sequel and make this story as good as it can be; I brought some help."

_Four more figures walk through the doors, they join Michael and they also survey the audience._

"Please give a warm welcome to my co authors: **Count X. Gamlxltoe Nightmare**, **Mentality at its Worst**, and my two brothers Mark and Matt of **Black Scepter**, please treat them with the same respect you have given me."

_Michael gives a warm smile and winks at the audience_

"Now without further ado, let's begin the story, have fun."

(Quick note: It takes place after T&T)

Disclaimer: We do not own anything but some new characters and the plot, not Phoenix Wright, or the crossover character (at the end I'll say who he is and where he's from.)

* * *

Black Scepter, Count X. Gamlxltoe Nightmare, and Mentality at its Worst presents:

Phoenix Wright

Ace Attorney

Guardian Angels

* * *

Prologue: The City of Angels

"Just give me the damn purse!"

Cara Maria never thought this would happen to her, she never would have guessed that when she got off the bus she would have to walk home alone. She also never would have guessed that someone would try to mug her when she put down her grocery bag of bread to unlock her door. She never guessed a lot of things, but she prayed that someone, anyone, would hear her cries for help.

Then it happened, just when the mugger pulled out a knife and was about to stab her, his hand stopped, as if the hand of god grabbed it. The knife shuddered slightly, then flew out of his hands and clattered on the pavement away from him. Then like a hawk swooping down, he came, he leaped from the fire escape and tackled the mugger, Cara couldn't tell what the other man looked like, but he wore a trench coat and had some sort of pouch across his waist. The two men rolled a bit on the pavement until the mugger got up and grabbed his knife. The other man got up as well, but he stared at the knife with an apparent interest, he moved around the mugger, who held his knife at him.

"Well, now what?" The man asked the mugger, "It's your move now, what are you going to do?"

The mugger looked a little shocked, but it quickly changed back to anger.

"You should've minded your own business, now you gotta die for it!"

The man smirked, "Go ahead I invite you to kill me, you'll fail, but you can still try right?"

The mugger yelled out in fury and charged forward holding his knife above his head, obviously aiming for the head. The other man sidestepped his attack, grabbed his arm, twisted it and placed it behind his back, the mugger dropped the knife and the other man threw him against the wall.

"Ah, no!" The mugger yelled out, "D-don't kill me!"

The other man laughed, "Kill you? No, I'm not scum like you, in fact what I'm going to do is let the authorities figure out what to do with you instead."

The other man lifted his hand and a bunch of trashcans moved towards him, and when they were close enough the man bounded the mugger and stuffed him in the trashcan. At that time police sirens could be heard from the distance, the other man paused to hear them and then he walked back towards the fire escape and began to climb it.

"Wait!" Cara called out; the man stopped climbing and looked back at her.

"Thank you," Cara said, "You are an angel from above."

The man frowned and he sighed, "I'm not an angel."

Then the police arrived and when Cara looked back she saw the man was gone, he must have left when she turned her attention away from him. After she talked to the police she went back to the front pouch and picked up her grocery bag, maybe this was her imagination, but she swore she had seven loafs of bread, not six.

* * *

"Well, a loaf of bread is better than none," The man frowned as he entered an old building complex. 

He walked inside and approached a lift on the other side of the room, he clicked a button, the lift shuddered and it rose up to the higher floor. After awhile the lift finally stopped and the man stepped out and into a room that had a blanket laid out on the floor, a few lamps for light, a plate or two that had crumbs of food on it, and a round bucket of filthy water for washing.

The man took off his trench coat, removed his sheath that held a double bladed katana, untied the package of bread and started to munch on a piece.

"Guess tonight's dinner is bread and…" The man took a cup and poured some dark brown water in it, "… well, maybe not water, just bread then."

The man sighed and he took a few more bites of the slice of bread, he sat there in the silence, focused on eating his slice of bread.

Then something disturbed his thoughts, and his dinner.

"Now that doesn't look like an appetizing meal."

The man stopped, then in a flash he unsheathed his katana and pointed it at the source of the voice.

"Whoa, whoa!" The person yelled when the katana pointed at him, "Put the sharp objects away, I'm not your enemy."

"Who are you?" The man asked.

He heard a chuckle and the figure stepped out into the light; the person was a man, he had short black hair which was close to his head except for some small bangs on his forehead, he wore a brown trench coat which was unbuttoned completely, he had a clear Irish accent when he spoke.

"My name is Doyle," The man answered, "I'm your friend."

"Doyle…" The man repeated, and Doyle nodded, "Why am I supposed to believe that you're my friend?"

Doyle chuckled, "Because, a friend would help you get a better meal than this."

The man raised an eyebrow, "You must have another reason than to give charity to a guy like me."

Doyle gave a friendly smile, "Well, there is one thing I need to talk to you about, but first let's get some food, you like hamburgers?"

* * *

The man watched in complete amazement as Doyle started eating his fifth hamburger. 

"Who's the hungry one, me or you?" The man asked, and Doyle smiled sheepishly.

"I'm sorry I hadn't had these in a long time," Doyle explained as a waitress set another plate down, "They're amazing."

Suddenly without warning the waitress turned and slapped Doyle, apparently she thought he was commenting on something else than the hamburgers.

"So, what is it that you want with me?" The man asked Doyle, who was rubbing his cheek that received the slap.

Doyle grinned a little and said, "Let me tell you a story first."

"I'm not one for stories," The man cut him off, but Doyle still grinned.

"Oh you'll be interested in this one, it's a story about two brothers," Doyle said, and the man didn't interrupt him this time so he continued, "Ok there are two brothers, one was a detective and he was pretty good at his job, the other one was more known; he was a lawyer. A prodigy in fact, the best at his job, but tragedy struck and he was killed. But you see his spirit still haunted the courtroom, he was called the Revenant Lawyer"

"I know this already," The man interrupted, "But what does Leo Lionheart have to do with this?"

Doyle paused, "Oh, him? Absolutely nothing."

The man raised his eyebrow, and Doyle continued, "This actually has to do with his brother; Alex Lionheart. He was killed too, and like his brother they were also both spirits and both of them ended up fading away… except for you; Alex."

Alex Lionheart looked at Doyle, his face full of pain, "Do you know why, by some trick of fate, that not only I survived the explosion, but also back alive. Why I'm resurrected and not my brother?"

Doyle frowned, "I'm not sure, but I need your help Alex."

Alex frowned, "My help?"

Doyle nodded, "Yes, are you aware of something called Project N-E-G-A-T-I-O-N?"

Alex paused, "Yes, It has to do with our law and our justice system, more specifically it is-,"

"Not here!" Doyle cut him off, he took a quick look around and he said, "This area is too dangerous to talk about it, listen, go to Los Angeles and look for someone."

Doyle took a napkin and began to write a series of numbers and he said, "I can give you his address, but you need to find him on your own."

"What about you?" Alex asked and Doyle gave him the napkin.

"I need to handle something first, can I trust you to find this man?"

Alex looked at the napkin and he shook his head, "No I can't do it, I'm not a hero, I-,"

"You saved that woman from that mugger," Doyle interrupted, "You saved a lot of people, and in five seconds, your going to catch a waitress that will slip and fall."

Alex looked confused, "I'm going to what?"

And sure enough a waitress walking by slipped backwards and Alex reached out and caught her; Doyle smirked as Alex helped her up.

"How did you-,"

"Long story short," Doyle said as he got up, "I'm a seer."

Alex raised his eyebrows again, "A seer?"

"Yes, a seer for The Powers That Be," Doyle answered.

_(Play: The Powers That Be – For the Reunion, Nobuo Uematsu)_

"What is The Powers That Be?" Alex asked.

"The Powers That Be are all that is good in this world, to put it bluntly; they're the good guys."

"And you're their seer?" Alex clarified, and Doyle nodded.

"I get visions from them, images of people in danger or people who need help, The Powers That Be showed me you in a vision, that's how I found you."

Alex shook his head as if to clear some confusion, "What does have to with-,"

Suddenly it hit Alex, it hit him so hard that he stood up and he breathed, "No…"

Doyle nodded, "There are some… dangerous people after that project, project N-E-G-A-T-I-O-N, and if they get it, well it will end badly for everyone."

"The secret in that briefcase will destroy everything we believe in," Alex said, "I stopped it from being released many years ago, but I thought it was destroyed."

"Apparently it's not," Doyle frowned, "So… are you going to help?"

Alex nodded, he took the napkin that had the address and put it in his pocket. Doyle nodded and he was heading for the restaurant's exit when Alex called out.

"What makes you think that this guy will help us?"

Doyle turned to him and answered, "This wouldn't be the first time that this man had helped a Lionheart before. He'll help you."

Doyle left and Alex looked at the phone number and his face went pale, he never thought he would have to face this man again. But this wasn't the time to be picky, if what Doyle said was true; he couldn't pick and choose his allies, he just had to stop this secret from ever being released, and maybe get the redemption he is looking for.

_(End: The Powers That Be - For The Reunion)_

* * *

Meanwhile, in a city far off from here; Phoenix Wright was just waking up…

* * *

Prologue

The City of Angels

End

* * *

The story begins, hope it started off well. 

Oh yeah and **Doyle** is from the TV show **Angel,** he is NOT from PW and he is NOT an original character.


	2. Guardians of Turnabout: pt1

Disclaimer: I/we do not own anything copyrighted.

Welcome to the review corner for Guardian Angels, like in RL I'll be answering reviews every new chapter, let's get started.

Mentality at its Worst: Can't think of any words that best sum up the chapter except for yours.

Count X. Gamlxltoe Nightmare: Yes it has.

sonicandlink: An interesting beginning no?

Shadow Bladewolf: Welcome to Guardian Angels, yes you're right it is actually 'The Powers That Be' I have modified the prologue to reflect this, and I hope to hear from you what you think about this chapter.

Well that's it, let me tell you; my co authors might answer reviews in future (might), well let's get started with the first Turnabout… after some other messages.

Obviously Alex is an original character I made, but my co authors made their own character as well, if they appear I'll let you all know at the end of the chapter because a few of my co authors (my little brother Matt) put a lot of time in their character and I'd like them to be known.

Credits for part 1 go to: Capcom, and the singers/songwriters below.

* * *

I remember as if it was yesterday…

"_Oh my god that person fell!" _

"No he wasn't he was pushed!" 

I didn't kill that person, but no one believed me…

"_Murder!  
_

"_No… not him, he didn't kill him, I know he didn't!"_

"_He's a murderer!"_

I know they didn't believe me, because I was found…

"_Guilty of murder."_

Now here I am, about to die…

"_You are to be executed by electric chair, may god have mercy on your soul."_

If there is any hope…

"_Wait! Hold up pal! Stop the execution!"_

A glimmer of light in this world…

"_New evidence has been discovered, it's possible he's innocent!"_

I hope they come; I can't leave this world, not yet.

I need a guardian of the innocent.

* * *

Guardians of Turnabout pt1

My life so far…

* * *

March 1st, 7:00am,

The Wright Household,

Phoenix Wright had just waked up to another day, another day in the life of an ace attorney. He sat up, stretched his arms out, looked over to his right and noticed the covers were pulled and it was clearly empty. Phoenix gave a small smile, his wife had a new tendency to be getting up in the morning and getting her chores done, and he gave a shuddering yawn and got up and walked into the bathroom. He took out his toothbrush, put a glob of toothpaste on it, and proceeded to brush his teeth when about halfway through it the bathroom door opened, Phoenix turned around, his toothbrush still in his mouth and stared at the person walking in the bathroom.

Maya Wright chuckled softly at her husband with the toothbrush in his mouth and sighed.

"You got up late again; you're starting to make a habit of it."

Phoenix removed his toothbrush and rinsed his mouth before answering, "Just because you wake up early doesn't mean I wake up late."

Maya sighed again and tilted her hips slightly, she put her finger to her mouth, evidentially thinking about what he said, and finally she stood up straight and smiled.

"No, you just love to sleep in that's all," Maya laughed and Phoenix sighed.

"Call it what you want," Phoenix replied, slipping on his shirt, "But unless you have another reason for interrupting me in the bathroom…"

Maya frowned, "I um, well, it's nothing, I just wanted to check something… but I can do it later."

Phoenix raised an eyebrow, she looked a little nervous and (if daring to say) frightened? What on earth could she be frightened about? But before Phoenix could ask he heard a series of rapid pounding steps and he sighed, there was only one person who could make such a racket at 8:00 in the morning.

"Trucy…" Phoenix sighed.

Trucy Wright wasn't Phoenix's daughter in a biological sense, but she was just as part of his family as Maya is. Now the only thing Phoenix would like to change about her; is the fact that she was Maya in a miniature form, sure he got used to it, but it wasn't a favorite quality of his.

Maya looked down the hall and said, "I'll go down and make sure she doesn't wreck something."

Phoenix smiled as Maya began to walk down the hall, and then he walked over and put his arms around her waist.

"Hey," Maya yelled playfully, "What is the occasion?"

"No occasion, I was just thinking about when I proposed to you, remember?" Phoenix smiled.

Maya laughed a little, "How could I forget, you bungled your way three times trying to get the words out."

"Well I asked eventually didn't I?" Phoenix asked.

"Sure, after Edgeworth held out a series of flashcards to help you," Maya laughed, turning around and planting a kiss on his lips.

"There weren't any flashcards," Phoenix paused.

Maya laughed and pushed him playfully, "I know I'm just teasing."

Phoenix sighed; she was still Maya no matter how much she had grown in the past few years. Then Maya had walked down to go check on Trucy and Phoenix waited for a bit before he went downstairs as well. By the time he was down the steps Trucy was at the table eating her breakfast, when she saw him she immediately rushed over and hugged him.

"Morning dad, what are you doing today?"

Phoenix chuckled a little, "Well I-,"

"I have to go to school today," Trucy cut him off, "Tommy is supposed to show us an alligator today, have you seen an alligator?"

"A-an alligator? No I-,"

"Well I'm going to today, and maybe I'll get to have Ice cream as well what do you think?"

"Um well-,"

"Oh that's the school bus, I gotta go bye dad, bye mom!"

Trucy gave her dad a hug, hugged Maya, grabbed her backpack, and ran out the door before Phoenix could say anything else.

Phoenix remained exactly where he was and then he finally said, "I think Trucy was here, but I'm not exactly sure anymore."

Maya chuckled softly; Phoenix sat at the table and poured himself some cereal.

"That girl has so much energy that she could power the entire city," Phoenix mumbled as he turned on the television.

"… **and in other news: legendary veteran lawyer Cody Hawk's execution has been postponed. Startling new evidence has just been discovered that might prove Mr. Hawk to actually be innocent. The retrial is scheduled for tomorrow and Mr. Hawk has yet to find a lawyer to defend him…"**

Phoenix paused halfway through his cereal and remembered what he heard about Cody, he was one of the youngest lawyers to be called a veteran, and he was tried for murder and found guilty. So some new evidence has been discovered? Then again no one would defend him, he's too well known and the case built on him is solid. Phoenix continued to eat his cereal and Maya had fixed herself some toast, which was odd to Phoenix because normally her breakfast was… bigger than that.

"Hey are you ok?" Phoenix asked.

Maya nodded slowly and responded, "I'm ok, I'm just feeling under the weather."

Although Phoenix nodded, he wasn't so sure. Before he could ask her anything else Maya walked over to the front door and grabbed a set of car keys.

"Maya? Where are you going?" Phoenix asked, as Maya grabbed her purse and double checked her items.

"I need to go somewhere, there's something I need to do, I'll pick up Trucy when school ends," Maya answered.

"You're going to be gone for that long?" Phoenix asked, now he knew something was off, she looked really nervous.

However Maya managed to force a smile and say, "I'm ok Nick, really, I just have to do something and it will take me awhile, that's all."

Phoenix got up and kissed Maya on the cheek, "I love you, you know that right?"

Maya smiled and returned the kiss on his lips, "And I love you too."

Maya walked into her car and within a few seconds she was out on the road, Phoenix stood there a little confused about Maya, but she seemed ok so Phoenix didn't want to stress out as much about it. He turned around and he was heading for his cereal bowl when his cell phone rang, he pulled it out and pressed the talk button.

"Hello? This Phoenix Wright," Phoenix answered.

"Hello Wright," A voice on the phone answered.

"Who is this?" Phoenix asked, he never heard the voice before, a possible client?

"My name is Cody," The voice replied, "Come down to the detention center, I need your help."

_Cody? Wait a minute, _Phoenix thought, if this is who he thought it was then he had to be sure.

"Are you Cody Hawk?" Phoenix asked hesitantly.

"Yeah…" Cody replied, "Do you know anyone else is in need of a lawyer with the name 'Cody'?"

"Um…" Phoenix began, but he heard the phone hang up and Phoenix sat back down again.

Cody Hawk was asking him to be his defense lawyer, and ironically a few minutes ago he admitted his case was nearly impossible for any defense lawyer. Phoenix leaned his back on the couch, trying to decide what he should do; should he ignore the call? Or take Mr. Hawk's case? The more he tried to think about it the harder it seemed to make a decision, so Phoenix had decided that until he made a decision, he would have to hear Mr. Hawk's case first.

* * *

March 1st, 9:00am,

Detention Center,

Phoenix sat down in the chair in front of the glass wall and in a few minutes a man came in; he wore a orange prison jumpsuit (prison requirement for those jailed for life), he had messy hair that was colored bright red and covered a little of his right eye (Phoenix was reminded of Matt Engarde about this), and he looked like a man about to meet his last days… literally.

"I guess you're Cody Hawk," Phoenix nervously chuckled.

"I wouldn't be standing here if I wasn't," Cody frowned; Phoenix could tell he spent a lot of years being bitter.

"Ok then," Phoenix sighed, "Naturally I assume you want me to take your case, but before I do I need to hear the case from you, what got you the guilty sentence?"

Cody took a deep breath and began, "The incident took place at Highlander's Cliff, a man was pushed off the high cliff and into the busy road below, naturally it ended quite ugly."

Phoenix shuddered at the thought, but he nodded for Cody to continue.

"The only suspect they could find was, well, me," Cody chuckled, "I think the piece of evidence that was found day that pointed to me was my wallet, they found it right by the ledge where the victim was pushed. Also a witness testified that he saw me push the victim off the ledge."

"Who was the victim?" Phoenix asked.

"My mentor, a man named Lucas Bryan," Cody frowned, "But I didn't kill him, I was only there because he needed a ride to the hill. He told me he was meeting someone."

Phoenix nodded, "Do you know who?"

Cody shook his head, "No, Lucas made it clear when he said I shouldn't be involved with his business."

"I see," Phoenix nodded, "What stopped the execution?"

"Apparently when the files were being checked a piece of evidence showed up in the initial investigation, something that if examined properly could change the original testimonies," Cody answered.

"How many witnesses were there?" Phoenix asked, he was curious when Cody used the word 'testimonies', meaning another witness.

"Two," Cody answered, "One testified that I didn't kill the man, but her testimony was apparently disregarded due to the other witness and the evidence supporting the claim."

Phoenix frowned, he was right about the case being near impossible, and he was actually wondering something.

"What was your alibi, what were you doing during the murder?"

Cody frowned, "I was in the car, until I saw Lucas fall from the ledge and I went up there to look and well, I was found by one of the witnesses."

Phoenix now felt like the case would be really hard to win, if any case hard to prove Mr. Hawk's innocence. Yet, that voice in his gut told him he was innocent, it was the voice that told him that 'he is innocent and he needs help', and yet he needed to think about it.

"Mr. Hawk, when do you need to have a lawyer?" Phoenix asked.

"I need to have one by seven tonight, the trial is tomorrow," Cody replied.

Phoenix nodded, "Can you give me time on this? I'll have my answer by then."

Cody nodded, "I hope you can help me Mr. Wright, no one believes me, and I've been alone for many years."

Phoenix stared at Cody for a minute, and for a moment he saw something familiar in Cody, an aura, the same thing that reminded him of… _that_ person. Phoenix got up and walked out of the detention center, he got into his car and drove off into the road, yet his mind was only half focused, he kept wandering. It has been three years since when he met _that_ person, and he thought by now he would have moved on from that, but he didn't, he couldn't.

For these last few months he has been having the same dream over and over, a dream about two people in cloaks, an old man and two other cloaked people, a battle, one of them fell during it, and no matter how it was saw the person under the hood; was always Phoenix. The last part of his dream was the worst; it ended with _that_ person hovering above him, frowning upon him, eyes of anger burning into Phoenix. Those eyes continue to haunt him even when he was awake, and when Maya asked about it, Phoenix couldn't find the strength to tell her, and Phoenix felt like she too was having trouble moving on.

Phoenix knew something was wrong with her, she kept frowning these past few days, always looking nervous and she seemed to lack the strength to do things, it had been like this for a few weeks now, and he hoped she was ok.

* * *

March 1st, 9:30am,

Hotti Clinic,

"… The results have come back positive Mrs. Wright."

Maya looked at the doctor, her eyes full of surprise and happiness, she slowly stood up and asked.

"You mean…?"

The doctor nodded, "Yes, Mrs. Wright you're going to be a mother, you're having a baby."

To be continued

* * *

How do you like? Oh yeah, Trucy Wright is from the spin off; Apollo Justice.

Oh and by the way: **Cody Hawk** was made by my brother **Matt**, thought you would want to know.


	3. Guardians of Turnabout: pt2

Disclaimer: We don't own Phoenix Wright.

Yes, it's time for the review corner!

Shadow Bladewolf: Well, I hope you like this chapter; Maya's going to tell Phoenix the news.

Count X. Gamlxltoe Nightmare: Wait no more my friend, wait no more…

Mentality at its Worst: Yeah, Matt's dealing with it in strides.

Matt: CODY RULES!

… Sort of.

sonicandlink: Yes Phoenix is in trouble, big trouble indeed.

Credits for part 2 go to: Capcom, The writers of the show Angel, and the singers/songwriters below.

We're good? Good, now for the chapter.

* * *

Guardians of Turnabout pt2

Babies and Demons

* * *

March 1st, 12:00pm,

Maya nearly skipped down the sidewalk as rain started to pour, nervous and excited at the same time; she was going to be a mother, Phoenix was going to be a daddy, Trucy was going to be an older sister! Maya was now starting to have a hum with her skip, and she bounded through the rain and she was heading for her car. She stopped in front of it, pulled out her car keys, but just as she was about to slip them in she was roughly seized by the arms and was now being dragged into the alley behind her.

"Ah! No!" Maya screamed, trying to struggle free.

Maya looked behind her and saw a group of men got her and was now taking her to the alley, one of them looked down and chuckled.

"Sorry Mrs. Wright, but we can't take any chances of your husband being involved," The mugger laughed.

"What?" Maya asked, then she was set down on the ground and a mugger stood above her with a knife held out.

"Your corpse will be a message for your husband," The mugger grinned, and he held the knife up in the air.

"Ahhhhhhh!" Maya yelled in fright, but when the knife was coming down it stopped mid strike.

Then the knife shuddered and it lurched out of the man's hand and it flew towards the end of the alley; where a man wearing a black trench coat caught it as it came to him.

"Who are you?" The mugger asked, the man didn't respond and the mugger continued, "Leave now or join her!"

The man in the trench coat smirked and he opened his mouth and said, "Hey Doyle, I'm waiting for you to get the two men holding her."

Then from behind Maya a man with short dark hair and a brown trench coat walked out, and in a quick movement he slammed the heads of Maya's capturers to each other. Then when the other two turned to look at the other man, the man in the black trench coat pulled out a double bladed katana and he kicked a man in the gut, and cut the arm of another man, preventing him from pulling a weapon. Meanwhile the man who was hit in the gut got up and ran at the man named Doyle, he threw a punch at him and Doyle blocked it and turned to Maya.

"Ah Mrs. Wright, now would be the time to turn and run!" Doyle yelled in his Irish accent, and the man in the black trench coat took Maya's arm and led her back to her car.

"Maya," the man in the black trench coat said, "You need to go, now!"

"Oh thank you," Maya cried, "You… you!"

Maya's hands flew to her mouth and she stepped back in shock, she just couldn't, no she refused to believe it. Even though he looked older and she had only seen him a few times, she was still able to recognize him.

"A-Alex Lionheart?" Maya gasped, and Alex turned to look at her.

When Alex looked at her, he remembered the trial so many years ago, where he had lost his brother, again. He wanted to tell her what was going on, but before he could he heard Doyle yell out and he and Maya ran back to the alley. Alex turned the corner and he saw Doyle thrown on the ground, the mugger he had been fighting with stood above him, a crowbar in his hand. But just as he brought it down Doyle suddenly reached out and grabbed it, and Doyle wrenched the crowbar out of his hand and said.

"You shouldn't have done that…"

When Doyle had turned to look at the man Alex gasped; Doyle's face was now pure green, he had small spikes on his face, his chin was squarer shaped, and his eyes were blood red. Then with inhuman agility he leaped to his feet and kicked the man in the chest, knocking him to the wall and he slammed against it, unconscious. Alex turned to Doyle, who groaned for a minute and then reverted back to his human form.

"What… what are you?" Alex asked, and Doyle sighed.

"Look, it's no problem, I'm just a… Brachen Demon?" Doyle shrugged sheepishly.

"Just a demon?!" Alex said bewildered, "Just a demon?! That's all you have to say?!"

Doyle frowned, "Yes just a half demon, and if I remember correctly; you're supposed to be dead remember?"

Alex frowned as well, it looks like Alex and Doyle both had something in common; they're not supposed to be what they are, but they are anyway. Doyle craned his head a little to look behind Alex and he said, "Hey, um, doesn't Mrs. Wright look a little pale to you?"

Alex looked behind him, and sure enough Maya was white in the face and she looked faint. Then she did faint, she toppled backwards and Alex caught her before she hit the sidewalk.

"Something tells me this will be a long night," Alex sighed as he picked up Maya and opened the door to her car.

"It's going to get longer," Doyle frowned, "I need you to go to the prosecution's office."

"What for?" Alex asked, and Doyle handed him a paper.

"I need you to find the prosecutor for the trial of a man named Cody Hawk," Doyle explained, "Don't worry about Mrs. Wright I'll take her home, but I need you to meet the prosecutor for me."

"…Alright, I'll go," Alex sighed, and he walked back into the alley.

"Don't you need money for a bus?" Doyle asked.

"Nope, I got my car," Alex yelled back.

Doyle frowned, "Car?"

Then the sound of a revving engine was heard and a black hoodless car (it had a pull open hood due to the rain), zoomed out of the alley and onto the road.

Doyle was in awe, "That… is just so cool."

* * *

March 1st, 1:00pm,

Prosecution's Office,

Alex walked into the prosecution's office and strode over to the main desk. He set both of his hands on the desk and said in a calm, cool manner.

"I have an appointment with the prosecutor for the Cody Hawk trial, this is important."

"Your name?" The receptionist asked.

Alex paused, he couldn't use his real name because he was supposed to be dead, and legally he was dead so he couldn't take chances.

"I'm Connor Blazen," Alex invented.

The receptionist wrote his name down and gave him a pass, "The prosecutor in question is down the hall and to the left, and it's the room that smells like tea."

_Tea? _Alex thought as he walked down the hall, he passed several doors and finally he stopped when he caught the smell of tea. The fragrance invaded his nostrils and Alex had to refrain from taking a giant whiff of it, then he knocked on the door only to find out it was open. He paused for a minute, and then he walked inside.

Alex scanned the room and it was nicely designed, but basically simple with a few tea cups lying on the desk, again the scent of tea was strong here.

The detective instincts in Alex had him walking over to the desk, if he was going to have to engage in a battle of wits, he wanted to know who his opponent was at least.

"Hello… pray tell, what are doing at my desk?"

Alex turned around and regarded the person before him: The first and most obvious thing about the person was she was a woman, with red hair that reached her shoulders, she a pair of gold rimmed glasses which were pushed onto her light blue eyes; she had a black overcoat and some grey colored slacks for clothing. The woman also regarded Alex as she casually took a sip from the tea cup perched loftily from her right hand. Alex had that feeling in his gut; he knew this person, but from where?

Now Alex has all of his memories, but like all people certain memories become warped and faded. Alex did recognize this girl, but the problem is placing her in one of his memories, and he also had that feeling about her… something important, but Alex had to focus on his next task: bluffing, something he was quite good at.

"I have an appointment with you," Alex paused to read the name plate on the desk behind him, "…Ms. Stone."

Ms. Stone blinked and frowned, "You do? I don't remember having an appointment today… or… I did, and just got back from it, but I don't remember any others."

She fiddled with the tea cup in her hand, trying to think back to when she had an appointment. Alex had a feeling a déjà vu, and he was frustrated that he couldn't place it.

"Um, maybe a man named… uh Doyle, called it in?" Alex asked, he didn't know Doyle's first name, but he hoped that would clear up her confusion.

Ms. Stone walked to her desk and sat down, it seemed like she was only paying half attention to Alex.

"Doyle? I don't know what you are talking about…" She stopped when she glanced at a series of papers, her eyes went wide and she leaped up immediately.

"Oh there IS a Doyle here!" She held out her hand to Alex, "I'm sorry Mr. Doyle, you're quite early!"

Alex paused; _did she just call me Doyle? I guess she never met Doyle before, otherwise she would have known I could NOT be Doyle._

"I'm not Doyle," Alex sighed, "I've been sent in his place, I'm Al- Connor! Connor Blazen."

Alex almost slipped his name out there, but it seemed like Ms. Stone didn't catch it, she frowned a bit though at realizing Alex was not Doyle.

"…Oh? Alright then, Mr. Blazen…" However she stopped mid sentence and gazed out her window, after a long and yet odd awkward silence she turned to face him, "What were you here for again?"

Alex mentally grinned; it was time for a little bluff and trickery. He cleared his throat and spoke in a clear professional manner.

"I'm here about the trial of Cody Hawk; I'm on a routine check to make sure you are fully prepared for the trial."

Ms. Stone gave Alex a smug smile as she took a sip of her tea (_Earl Grey_ Alex thought,) ""Oh! But of course I am prepared, there's no possible way I could have kept such a highly-respected, yet demanding job if I was never fully prepared."

She strode over to her desk and began to rummage for her papers, and then she started to search for them a little more frantically.

"Where the hell is that folder?!" She muttered angrily, Alex raised his eyebrow at that.

"Right," Alex cleared his throat, "I also need to know your standing on the case; are you convinced of Mr. Hawk's guilt?"

Ms. Stone snorts as she stirred the tea, she responded as simply as she could, "Clearly."

Alex nodded, "And I assume the evidence also will prove Mr. Hawk's guilt?"

"Of course," Ms. Stone raised an eyebrow at this, "Why are you so worried about my evidence Mr. Basin?"

Alex wasn't about to correct her on that his 'name' was Blazen, nor was even sure himself why he was asking these questions, but Doyle sent him here for a reason, so he had to hope that he would find what Doyle sent him for.

"Well, the case was brought up because of some new evidence, new evidence that may prove his innocence," Alex countered.

Ms. Stone stared at him for a long time as she took a sip of her tea, "I may have my house keys in my pocket, but I still locked myself out of the house, didn't I?"

Alex mentally cringed, I guess new evidence didn't matter much to her. Although he was curious on why there was a look on her face that looked like she was panicking.

Her eyes went wide with realization, "I… _thinkIlockedmykeysINthehousethismorning_…"

Alex just had to stare; why was this so familiar to him, as if she reminded him of someone he knew a long time ago before he died.

Alex opened his mouth to speak, but Ms. Stone beat him to it.

"I know what I'm doing," She stated, "Is that all you wanted to know?"

And again Alex tried to speak, but this time another voice interrupted him, and it wasn't Ms. Stone.

"I think that's enough."

The two of them turned towards the doorway and standing there was a man wearing a simple gray suit, he had brown hair that was parted on both sides, and he had a look that made Alex feel uneasy.

"Ms. Stone will not be answering your questions anymore," The man stated as he entered the room.

"Who are you?" Alex asked roughly.

The man looked at Alex and held out his hand, "I'm the chief of police; Geoff Jones."

Alex stared at the hand as though it was disease; to be honest it felt like one to Alex. The man lowered his hand when he was sure Alex wasn't going to shake back, and he addressed Alex once more.

"I need to speak with Ms. Stone, ALONE, if you don't mind."

Alex narrowed his eyes at him and reluctantly left the room, when the door shut behind him he made sure no one was looking before he positioned himself near the door. He didn't know who this guy was really, but what he did know is that he seemed like bad news.

_(Play: Rivals From The Shadows – Thirteenth Discretion, Yoko Shimomura)_

Geoff turned to Ms. Stone and he spoke in a professional tone, "Ms. Stone, I assume you are prepared for the trial tomorrow."

Ms. Stone nodded, "I am, Mr. Jones."

Geoff smiled in a way that made Ms. Stone's blood chill, Geoff walked around her and picked up a cup of tea off her desk and sipped a bit of it.

"I just want to make sure that you will do what is necessary to convict Mr. Hawk," Geoff said.

Ms. Stone paused, she took another sip of tea and said slowly, "I… intend to…? That's what the evidence is for, right?"

"Ah yes, of course… the evidence," Geoff smirked, "But I must ask; when the evidence can no longer truly support itself, can I count on you to do what needs to be done, right?"

Ms. Stone blinked; she seemed to have a problem understanding what he was trying to say.

"I… what? When the evidence can't say otherwise, I usually lose, right? What else would I need to do?"

Geoff's smirk lessened at her inability to grasp the meaning of the sentence, but he still smirked nonetheless.

"Why Ms. Stone, if a testimony sounds bad make it sound better, that's what any prosecutor would do."

"Oh!" Ms. Stone smiled, "Yes of course!"

Geoff smiled, it seemed like she finally got the message.

"Like instead of saying that the knife cut someone's throat, you could say 'the knife cut the tender flesh of'… well, something like that…" Ms. Stone happily sipped her tea.

Or not.

Geoff's patience has reached its end, his smirk turned to a dark frown and he had an air of anger around him.

"… Ms. Stone, being oblivious will only cost you your job," He stepped up to her and she backed up a little, Geoff growled at her, "You will do what is needed to convict Mr. Hawk, otherwise you won't be having this office or any other office anymore, are we clear?"

Ms. Stone blinked and she stuttered, "I… but I can't just…"

However she stopped, Ms. Stone sagged her shoulders in defeat and said, "I understand Mr. Jones."

Geoff smiled once again, "Grand."

Geoff finished the cup of tea and he headed for door, he was about to push it open when he stopped and turned to Ms. Stone.

"Just remember Ms. Stone; heroism is what killed your boyfriend, don't make the same mistake."

Ms. Stone clutched the handle of her tea cup and she glared at the wall ahead of her, "… I understand…"

Geoff smiled out of the corner of his mouth and he opened her office door and walked out.

_(End: Rivals From The Shadows – Thirteenth Discretion)_

Alex watched as Geoff walked down the hall and out of sight. As Alex had figured; this new police chief was bad news, very bad news. Alex was about to head out to his car when he stopped in front of Ms. Stone's office, he had been wrestling with asking this question for awhile and he finally decided to ask it.

"Pardon me Ms. Stone, but is your first name… Carrie?"

Ms. Stone was startled by Alex's reappearance, but she managed to answer.

"I… yes, yes it is. Why do you ask?"

Alex froze, he couldn't believe what he heard and yet he did nonetheless hear it.

"I was… just wondering," Alex mumbled, and Carrie looked at him oddly.

""I'm not looking, if that's what you're hinting," Carrie said as she sat at her desk.

But Alex had left; he was already down the halls and outside. As he got into his car and drove out into the road he was filled with mixed feelings, he never thought he would see her again, but now that he did how can he live with it?

_I need to talk to Doyle; he should have already returned Maya home now. At least he should have, hope nothing happened._

* * *

March 1st, 2:00pm,

Wright Household,

"Mrs. Wright for god's sake, stop throwing things at me!!"

Doyle yelped and ducked as a frying pan flew right towards him, poor Doyle had woken Maya when he brought her home only to have her throw things at him.

"No!" Maya yelled as she picked up an apple, "You'll never take me!"

Doyle paused after he dodged the apple, "I wouldn't even know where to take you to!"

That didn't really matter to Maya and she ran for the front door, Doyle ran after her but to his shock (and his fear) Phoenix and Trucy had just returned home to find Maya panicking, and as usual poor Doyle is caught in a misunderstanding.

"Oh crap, um, I'm not a robber so please don't overreact!" Doyle yelled, but as he said that Phoenix picked up a vase from the hallway.

Doyle sighed, "Just like that…"

Phoenix started swing the vase at him and Doyle would either leap or dodge his swipes, soon Doyle had leaped into the hall and laughed.

"Come on there's no way any of you can-,"

However Doyle was cut off by a big fat book that slammed onto his head, Doyle looked to his right and saw Trucy Wright grinning evilly.

"No… way…," Doyle moaned as he toppled forward on the floor.

Trucy started giggling at Doyle's unconscious body, Phoenix walked over to Maya and made sure she wasn't hurt in anyway. Then he walked over to Doyle and examined his body as Trucy jumped around and cheering:

"I beat a full grown man and daddy didn't!"

Phoenix felt that something was off; he noticed the man didn't fight back, but instead he was more focused on dodging him and he didn't even try to hurt Maya or anything.

Phoenix stood up slowly and turned to Maya, "I think we should call the police, I don't know what he wanted but we should-,"

I wouldn't do that Phoenix."

Phoenix turned to the doorway and saw a man wearing a black trench coat with a double bladed katana strapped to his side, the man turned to Phoenix and he stepped inside the house and into the light of the lamp that was in the room. Phoenix studied the man's features and he nearly fell over; he knew this person and he knew it should be impossible for this man to be in front of him, he should be dead!

"Alex Lionheart?" Phoenix asked quietly, and Alex nodded.

_(Play Alex's Theme: The Chosen Hero - Dive into the Heart -Destati- (KHII Version) _

Phoenix felt weak in the knees and leaned on the wall to support him, Maya walked into the room and covered her mouth; she wasn't hallucinating, she did see Alex tonight. Trucy however thought Alex was going to hurt them and she ran forward with the heavy book held in the air, but when she saw his katana strapped to his side she dropped the book and hid behind Phoenix's leg.

"Who are you?" Trucy cowered, "Please don't hurt me!"

Alex stared at Trucy and smiled warmly, "I'm not going to hurt you, quite the opposite I want to talk to your father actually."

Trucy looked unsure of him and Alex walked over to Doyle's unconscious body and the Irish man began to stir. Soon Doyle was beginning to regain his consciousness and he woke up with a groan. Phoenix began to tense up but Alex held his hand up and reassured Phoenix.

"It's all right he's with me."

Doyle was now fully conscious and he groaned slightly, he turned to Trucy and asked, "Did you knock me out?"

Trucy nodded fearfully and Doyle chuckled a little, "Huh, you've got a pretty good arm little girl."

Trucy looked surprised and then she giggled a little, "He called me pretty…"

Alex lifted Doyle to his feet and Doyle turned to Alex.

"Did you go to the prosecution's office?" Doyle asked, Alex nodded and Doyle frowned a little, "Did you see a man with a gray suit and a cocky attitude?"

Alex jumped a little and frowned, "Let me guess; The Powers That Be told you? Yes, there was a man that fit your description and he sounded like bad news to me."

Doyle's frown was dark, "It is bad; he's the one of the men after the _thing_."

Alex's expression turned into one of shock and horror, "What!!"

Phoenix looked back and forth between the two of them and he managed to stutter, "W-w-w-what's going on here?! Who are you?!"

Doyle looked at Phoenix and he chuckled sheepishly, "I'm sorry; I'm Allen Doyle, but please just call me Doyle."

Alex looked at Doyle, "Your first name is Allen?"

Doyle narrowed his eyes a little at Alex, "Yes my first name is Allen, is there a problem?"

Alex raised his eyebrows and shrugged, "No problem I'm just curious that's all."

Doyle's eyes softened a little and he turned to Maya, "Ah Mrs. Wright I've been to ask, you are not harmed in anyway are you?"

Maya nodded, "No I'm alright, I'm not hurt."

Doyle sighed, "Good, it would be a terrible shame to lose the baby- wait, I mean, oops."

Doyle's eyes widened at his slip up and Phoenix's face went white and he turned to Maya.

"…Baby? What baby?" Phoenix asked quietly, Maya looked at him and Trucy who stared at her anxiously.

Maya took a deep breath, she smiled openly and she nodded quickly, Phoenix's eyes widened and Trucy covered her mouth in an attempt to conceal a squeal. Then Trucy ran over and nearly tackled Maya, Phoenix didn't move which worried Maya, was he angry at her for having a baby? But those thoughts turned out to be false when Phoenix ran over and gave her a hug that almost toppled the three of them over.

"A baby! I'm… I'm a father!" Phoenix yelled happily as he embraced Maya.

Maya started to cry as Phoenix held her tightly, Alex and Doyle felt like they were intruding on something indecent, something private, a world they shouldn't shatter, but they had no choice.

"Phoenix…" Alex cleared his throat, "Have you heard of a man named Cody Hawk?"

Phoenix turned to Alex with a shocked expression, he nodded slowly and Doyle asked, "Did you take his case?"

Phoenix shook his head, "I haven't decided yet."

Maya looked at Phoenix and gasped, "Cody Hawk asked you to represent him?"

Doyle frowned, "You have to take his case."

Phoenix raised his eyebrow, "I should? How come?"

Doyle sighed, "Listen, I know for a fact that you were told this before; but you are in danger, not just you or the people around you, but the entire world is in danger."

Phoenix frowned, "Why? Why am I in danger?"

Alex walked forward, "Because of Project N-E-G-A-T-I-O-N."

"Negation?" Phoenix asked, "What the hell is that?"

"It's dangerous that's what it is," Alex frowned, "VERY dangerous."

Phoenix stared at the two of them; their faces were very serious and they didn't look like they were kidding, at all. Phoenix looked at Maya and he caressed her cheek and pulled Trucy close to him, he tried for the sake of his family to avoid this stuff, but it seemed fate had a much more expanse design for him.

Phoenix turned to the two of them, "Alright then; I think you two better explain to me what is going on, if what you say is true then you better tell me what's so dangerous about Project N-E-G-A-T-I-O-N?"

To be continued.

* * *

That's it for now, I won't get back writing till the 26th, Christmas and all, so here's my gift to all of you, have a good Christmas/Hanukah/Kwanza, and please review and no flames. 


	4. Guardians of Turnabout: pt3

Disclaimer: None of us own things copyrighted, 'nuff said.

Mentality at its Worst: ….Huh, nothing much to say about this; you took the words from my mouth.

Shadow Bladewolf: Gant was creepy, Geoff is scary… I guess they are the same, or are they? You'll see just how much political power Geoff has, I can say even more than Gant could dream.

Count X. Gamlxltoe Nightmare: We barely got in the story, and what are you talking about; you already knew about Doyle remember?

sonicandlink: Phoenix fainting would have had humor, but I decided to go for cute.

Nick Wright: Ah yes, everyone give a warm welcome to the new editor of Guardian Angels, **credit for the editing in this chapter goes to him.**

Now for chapter 4, which is part 3 of 4.

Oh and I forgot to say this on the last chapter:

**Carrie Stone** is Jess's (Mentality at its Worst) character—and before you ask, her name's no secret: it's on her profile page.

* * *

Guardians of Turnabout pt3

Villains

* * *

March 1st, 2:30 pm,

Wright Household,

"All right then," Doyle sighed.

Doyle went into the coat closet and pulled out a giant white board and a black dry erase marker. Slowly, deliberately, he began to write on it. The words he wrote down, his audience realized, were all names: the names of politicians, scientists, officers, corporate officers, and the like. The list seemed to go on.

Finally, Doyle put down his marker and turned to everyone sitting in the family room. "Now, can anyone tell me what these names have in common?"

He sounded like a school teacher lecturing his students, and, not unlike most classes, no one in the room knew what he meant. Doyle sighed and he pointed towards the names.

"These people were murdered, all within the last two months that they made a certain public announcement."

"All of them?!" Phoenix gasped, scanning the giant list. "Within the last two months?! That's impossible, people would have known…"

"These people were out of state or out of country when they were murdered. Or at least… we think they are. We haven't exactly found most of them," Doyle explained. "These people were in charge when someone unearthed a suitcase from the desert."

Maya raised her hand. "Okay, so people wouldn't notice that they were murdered… but wouldn't they notice they were missing?"

Doyle shook his head. "They all weren't exactly the most sociable in their field. Even the corporate bigwigs preferred to do their business by phone."

Alex narrowed his eyes. "… Go on."

"Ah yes," Doyle nodded. "Well, when they unearthed it they discovered is was a document of sorts, probably a document that was the founding of our law system."

"Then what happened?" Maya asked.

"Well," Doyle sighed, "The words on the document revealed something dangerous; something that would destroy our system of justice. That is Project Negation."

Phoenix paused for a minute, "This project is about our law system? What is it?"

Doyle frowned, "I don't know, and even if I did I wouldn't tell you."

"Why not?" Phoenix asked, slightly annoyed.

Doyle put away the marker, sat in the chair across from them and said in a slow and clear voice.

"You are a defense lawyer. You believe in your client's innocence, and you believe in our justice system, and that the law will—as long as there are people willing to fight for it—bring criminals to justice. Imagine something that would not only shatter your faith, but everyone's faith in our justice system. If you knew this then you, our hope, would be lost and the 'bad guys', if you will, would win the day."

"What do you mean the bad guys would win?" Phoenix asked, "What do they want with it? What can they even do with it?"

"My guess? They want to release its contents," Doyle mused. "But I don't know why they would want to do such a thing."

Doyle stood back up and began to write another name on the board. "There is one person attached to the unearthing of Project Negation that is still alive, and he is our best hope of finding out any answers."

Maya stood up and looked closely at the name on the board. "Gabriel Seraph," she read aloud.

Doyle nodded. "This man might know where the project was moved."

Alex cut him off, "What do you mean by 'moved'?"

Doyle pulled out a file from the inside of his trench coat, "According to this file, 'the suitcase was moved to a confined location, where angels sleep in peaceful harmony.'"

Alex sighed angrily, "What is with the need for riddles? I mean, this is an official document, for crying out loud! Why can't they say New York City, or Dallas, or even just the state?!"

Phoenix chuckled, "If everything wasn't a riddle, I'd be out of a job, right?"

Doyle chuckled a little too, "Ah, very true. Anyway, this man is our best bet because he's the one who signed the notice."

Doyle showed the signature on the document, which was clearly signed: Gabriel Seraph.

Phoenix looked at the note and he smiled a little. "This guy has great penmanship, how can he get those letters to connect like that?"

Maya sighed and held her hand out in front of him. "Hand it over."

Phoenix sighed as well, and took out a business card and handed it over to her.

Doyle pointed towards Maya's hand, which now held the card, and asked, "What is that?"

Maya laughed, "His 'man cards'. We made a running bet on how many times he does something wimpy for the week: so far I have three out of five."

Doyle and Alex raised their eyebrows, but beyond that they didn't say anything else. Alex walked over to the board and stared at the one name that belonged to a living person.

"So this Gabriel Seraph is the man we need to find?" Alex asked, and he turned to Doyle. "Can you find out where he is?"

Doyle sighed. "My visions don't work like that; I can only see people Phoenix needs to help, which mostly are people connected to this project. Other times it's just people that really need our help."

"Wait, I thought everyone connected to the project was dead," Alex said.

"No," came Doyle's reply, "nearly everyone who **found** the project is dead."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on a minute," Maya interrupted. "Visions? What visions?"

"I'm what you might call a seer, all right? Let's leave it at that." Doyle sighed. "I'm sure that you, being a spirit medium, would understand…"

"Anyway," he said, speaking to all of them now, "Gabriel went underground: he disappeared from the project and the public eye. Whatever happened to his colleagues prompted him to hide for a while."

"And The Powers That Be can't find him?" Alex asked.

Doyle frowned. "I don't know. I cannot find him, to be sure. Now as for Cody Hawk…"

"Oh yes, you said he was involved somehow, right?" Phoenix asked. "Just how is he involved?"

Doyle put his hand to his chin, "Now I'm not sure if Cody himself is connected, but his mentor, Lucas Bryan, just might be involved."

Phoenix thought back to what Cody told him and gasped, "Cody told me that he was only at the crime scene because his mentor needed to meet someone—but Lucas wouldn't tell him because he didn't want Cody involved."

Doyle frowned, "So it does seem that Lucas was part of it: that clears up one mystery. But it also introduces two more."

"Two more?" Maya asked, and Alex answered.

"Well, first, who did Lucas meet? Second, what did they talk about?" Alex turned to Doyle. "Is Lucas Bryan on that list of yours?"

Doyle frowned and he double-checked his list, when he looked back at Phoenix his face said it all. It looked like Lucas Bryan was the list of people involved in the unearthing of the project.

"Damn," Doyle swore. "How could I have missed that?"

"Wait a minute, if Lucas was involved in the project, why is Cody being targeted?" Maya asked, "Nick just said Cody had nothing to do with it."

Alex frowned, "I don't think they know that. Honestly, I don't think they even care. They must have been glad when Cody was convicted the first time, but now that this new evidence is brought up they're trying to force the prosecutor to cover up testimonies."

Phoenix narrowed his eyes at this info. "Will the prosecutor do it?"

Alex's face went into a dark frown, "Never. She wouldn't just cover up a testimony—even under blackmail. It's not in her."

"You seem awfully sure," Maya noted with a sly grin on her face. "The prosecutor wouldn't happen to be Ms. Carrie Stone, would it?"

Alex looked at her with an unsure look on his face, "Yes… why?"

"Ah so you like her too," Maya laughed, "I haven't met her yet, but from what I heard from Edgeworth, she has a few guys on her tail."

"It's not that!" Alex blushed, showing that indeed it was. "It's not that at all. I just know for a fact she wouldn't do that—not the Carrie I knew."

Maya raised her eyebrow, but before she could ask her question Phoenix cut her off with one of his own.

"I'm sorry, but I need to ask this, because it's been bothering me: why do The Powers That Be want me to help you?"

Doyle paused for a moment. "The Powers That Be didn't choose you; I chose you. Tell me this: have you, perhaps, been having dreams about an old man—and the dream ends with you being frozen to death?"

Alex's eyes widened and he looked at Phoenix, who was shocked as well. After a small mental debate, Phoenix decided to answer.

"Yes, but what does this mean to you?"

Doyle smiled. "It means I found the right guy. Whoever had that dream for these past few months was the one I believe can help in ways The Powers That Be could never imagine."

Maya looked at Doyle, "You're a seer, right? How do your visions work?"

Doyle sighed, "A blur of pictures and a huge migraine afterwards. Seriously it's not a pleasant thing to have."

Before Doyle could continue, there was a knock at the door, Phoenix walked over to the door and opened it.

"Detective Gumshoe?" Phoenix asked. "Why are you here?"

Dick Gumshoe smiled and said, "Well apparently, you called for my partner here, pal."

Phoenix paused. "Partner?"

He looked behind Gumshoe and was met with a surprise. "E-Ema? You didn't tell me you were a—"

Ema Skye held up her hand to cut him off. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you; the information slipped my mind, that's all. May we come in?"

Phoenix paused and then he stepped aside and let Ema and Gumshoe out of the rain. The two of them walked into the room and joined everyone else. Alex was leaning against the wall—evidentially brooding about something; Maya got up when she saw Ema and walked forward to meet her; Doyle was writing something on the board, off in a side space, paying no attention to anything else whatsoever.

"So Phoenix what do—" Doyle began, but as he rounded the corner he came face to face with Ema.

"Oh!" Ema gasped, startled by Doyle's sudden appearance. "I'm sorry, who are you?"

Doyle seemed to be rooted at the spot, caught off-guard. He stared at Ema for a while until—it seemed—he realized she was still there and he finally managed to speak.

"I'm, uh, Allen. Allen Doyle—but please, just call me Doyle. Please."

Ema smiled a little. "Doyle… that's a nice name."

Doyle looked a little red, "Oh…really? It is a very Irish name, hehehe."

"I can tell you're Irish," Ema laughed, "even without the name. I'm Ema, Ema Skye."

"Ah… like the, um"—Doyle's mind struggled to search his mind for _anything _to talk about—"Isle of Skye…?" He gave a rather weak smile and the two of them stayed there like that for awhile, until Phoenix cleared his throat and Ema turned towards Phoenix and handed him a file.

"You told me you wanted info on the original trial of Cody Hawk? Well, here it is," Ema said, as Phoenix opened the file.

Phoenix perused the contents and nodded, "Yeah, this is what I needed. Thank you, Ema."

"No problem," Ema smiled, but Gumshoe made a funny noise.

"Um, Ema," Gumshoe scolded, "you could really get in trouble with this. You could even lose your job!"

Ema placed her hands on her hips, "You did the same thing for Phoenix when he asked you for help!"

Gumshoe blinked and he sighed, "Yeah you're right, pal. I guess we better get going now, though."

Ema nodded and turned back to Doyle, "Well, I suppose I'll see you around, Doyle?"

"Yes it was a pleasure to meet me," Doyle stopped, replaying what he heard himself say, and then tried again: "I mean, it was a pleasure to meet you."

Ema covered her mouth to try and suppress a giggle; Doyle was red in the face from embarrassment. Ema turned for the door and she and Gumshoe walked back outside, leaving Doyle to watch the door close, with a strange look of relief on his face.

Maya walked over to Doyle and said in a sing-song voice, "I think you like her."

Doyle looked back at Maya; his face was once again red with embarrassment as he tried to answer in the most dignified way possible.

"I-I- I don't know what you are talking about!"

Oh yeah, real smooth.

"So Phoenix," Doyle cleared his throat, "What do you think? Will you take Cody's case?"

Phoenix sat down and pondered his choices. Cody's case was nearly impossible, but then again, if Cody was really innocent, then he had to do it—he had to try and save him. Of course, he didn't exactly want to be chosen for some dangerous mission, but he had the ability to help Cody, and he would feel awful for the rest of his life if he didn't at least try to.

Phoenix took out his cell phone and dialed a number; after a while, Phoenix spoke into the phone.

"Hello Detective Gumshoe? I forgot to ask you this earlier… yes, I realize you're on the road now… look, I need you to fill the applications to make me Cody's defense lawyer… yes, I decided to take the case… thank you." Phoenix hung up the phone and nodded. "It's done. I will be representing Cody tomorrow."

Then the door to the kitchen opened, and Trucy stepped into the room, holding a plate with two sandwiches on it.

"Um… Mr. Doyle, I, um, made this for you," Trucy mumbled with a blush on her face.

Doyle looked at the sandwich and smiled warmly. "Oh, why thank you, Trucy! I think I'll eat it right now."

Doyle picked up the sandwich and took a bite. He chewed slowly, and then he froze. Then he opened his mouth to reveal white mush and the distinct sickly-sweet smell of honey.

"Mmff, whath thith? Honey 'n' marthmallowth?" Doyle asked, even though he could taste the answer.

Trucy smiled, unaware of Doyle's discomfort. "That one is. This one has chocolate syrup."

Trucy pointed at the second sandwich on the plate, which was overflowing with chocolate syrup and honey. Doyle gagged quietly, then he stepped back slightly and looked over at Phoenix.

"Hey Phoenix, don't you want to taste this…interesting looking sandwich?" Doyle asked, and Trucy nodded eagerly.

"Oh, oh, yes daddy, please have a bite too!"

Phoenix went pale: he remembered the last time he had Trucy's cooking. He never liked peaches again after that.

He was about to decline, when he heard Maya say in a taunting voice, "What's this I hear? Do I hear me taking another man card?"

Phoenix snatched the sandwich, and he prayed that Trucy didn't add a special surprise in it. Alex stood next to Maya. _He_ prayed that if there was vomiting involved, he would be far away from it.

* * *

March 1st, 4:00pm,

Criminal Affairs,

Chief's Office.

"That's not what I wanted to hear from you."

Geoff Jones glared at the man in front of him, his eyes were narrowed, angry.

"I wanted to hear: "Yes boss, Mrs. Wright is dead, her guts are all over the alley and she has STOPPED BREATHING!'" Geoff yelled. The man cowered and Geoff sighed.

"I don't care about your excuses," Geoff cut him off as he took out a pistol. "You've become only a liability."

With a single shot to the head, the henchmen toppled backwards and a few of the higher-up officers, hand-picked by Geoff, ran in. They stared at Geoff for awhile, and then one of them sighed tiredly.

"Another body, sir?" the officer asked, as the others picked up the corpse and carried it off. "Should I send someone to report to the Superior about this?"

"No," Geoff sighed, "I'll tell the Superior. You go find a 'suspect' for this murder—how about that man who jogs here every morning?"

"Um, why him, sir?" The officer asked.

Geoff paused, and a dark cloud crossed his features ominously. "I just don't like him. Now go and plant some evidence." Geoff made a shooing motion with his hands.

The officer left and Geoff could only smile triumphantly; he had the whole police force under his (and the Superior's) control, to some extent… save for two, but that would be quickly fixed. Now there was only one more thing to take care of for now. He took out his phone and dialed a number.

"Ah yes," he said during the conversation which followed, "the trial of Mr. Hawk is tomorrow and if, by some chance, all does not go as planned—make sure Mr. Hawk is silenced. Permanently."

To be continued

* * *

Next Up: The Trial of Cody Hawk—and just who _is _the murderer? 

Oh, and Gabriel Seraph was made by my brother Mark Fri.


	5. Guardians of Turnabout: pt4

Disclaimer: I do not own Phoenix Wright or the music selected for this story.

Speaking of which, I feel like I owe it to my readers to list music I will use in this story (this is mostly instrumental).

Kingdom Hearts 1, 2, and ReChain of Memories. (Yoko Shimomura is my favorite composer for this, although Kaoru Wada was excellent with Fate of the Unknown.)

Final Fantasy: (Too many to mention, but most of them are Nobuo Uematsu's work (and yes, there are others besides Nobuo))

Angel: Live fast, Die Never (Apparently Doyle had a theme for the show; you should look out for it. I also chose it for another reason)

Some music from the PW games: (probably only Maya's Theme and T&T's Trial opening)

Pirates of the Caribbean (Oh yeah, Pirates, a few songs on the CDs are quite good to put in.)

Legend of Zelda (I'm still debating about this one)

The other songs are stuff like Breaking Benjamin, Linkin Park, Evanescence, stuff like that. I had an inquiry about my music choices on another story so I thought I'd at least list the stuff I'm using—I try to pick songs that really "fit". And now for reviews.

Shadow Bladewolf: Well, I'm glad you think so at any rate: I was worried on how readers might take Doyle x Ema. As for Project Negation? It is more ominous than The Crisis, and more dangerous in my opinion. The Crisis had Phoenix fighting to save everyone he loves, but this one will have him fighting to save the world.

Count X. Gamlxltoe Nightmare: Really? Why do you think so?

sonicandlink: Man cards… poor Phoenix, and I did have a good Christmas, and I'm glad you did too.

Mentality at its Worst: You are very welcome, what are friends for?

Theres. Beauty. In. The. Breakdown.: Welcome to Guardian Angels, I'm so glad you approve of the crossover with Doyle. I chose him because he could fit with the story I'm planning, and he was a great character on Angel.

Lone Wolf: Well, I hope I can inspire you to write. It's one of the many things I hoped to do, I hoped to inspire someone the same way Nightfire04 inspired me to write.

Oh and I really have to stop predicting how long a chapter is, because I can't seem to make it work. Disregard what I said last chapter about it being four parts long.

Whew—that was exhausting. Oh, and credits for editing this chapter go to Nick Wright.

* * *

Guardians of Turnabout

Part Four

Heroes

* * *

March 2nd, 9:00am

District Courthouse

Defendant Lobby 2

"Um, Doyle? What are you wearing?" Phoenix asked as he regarded Doyle's new outfit.

Doyle was now clothed in a brown jacket that gave him a rugged look, which was countered by the white cotton shirt underneath it. He completed the (admittedly odd) look with a pair of dark blue jeans.

"What? You don't like it?" Doyle asked. "Maya picked them out for me, she said that my trenchcoat was filthy and it didn't 'work' for me."

Phoenix raised an eyebrow. "Maya said that?"

"Yes I did," Maya snapped, her voice coming from across the room, "and I think he looks rather good in it."

"It certainly is…" Phoenix paused, trying to find words to express his opinion that also wouldn't put his life in danger. "Er, it's… interesting."

"'Interesting' indeed," Doyle muttered, "I mean, come on: Alex wears a black trenchcoat and he looks good in it!"

Alex was leaning against the doorjamb when he heard Doyle say that, he raised his head and sighed.

"These are the only clothes I have left."

Doyle burst into fits of laughter over that, but when he caught sight of Alex's expression, he stopped.

"Seriously?" Doyle asked, and Alex nodded.

"Well then," Maya chirped, "I'll go and buy you some new clothes too, maybe a good fuchsia or a nice magenta…"

Alex turned and looked at her stonily.

"No pink or purple," he said, his voice forcing the words out of his throat. "Only black or a light brown. White's good: a nice white t-shirt. Maybe even a red flannel shirt—something simple."

Maya frowned. "Not very colorful, are you?"

Alex shook his head. "Just something simple in red, black, brown, or white. I just want clothes that go with anything."

Maya frowned and she turned around muttering, "At least your brother dressed nicer…" She paused as she realized what she had said.

Alex turned his head sharply in her direction, eyes narrowed defensively, but then they softened a bit and his frame seemed to sag under an immense weight.

"Yeah, he really knew that stuff better than me. He liked looking nice and professional. I never really cared…"

"Say, when is Cody getting here?" Phoenix suddenly asked, surprising both Alex and Maya with the irritation resting obvious in his voice.

Then another voice spoke up—the tone suggested that its speaker was bored.

"Are we going to get this trial started, or what?"

Everyone looked at the lobby entrance and saw Cody, who was not in his jumpsuit, but instead wore a black suit jacket with a red shirt underneath it. He had even managed to comb his hair: it still hung lazily over one eye, but at least it did so neatly.

"Ah, there you are," Phoenix sighed. "We were worried that you might not make it."

Cody simply frowned. "Let's get a move on."

Phoenix frowned a little too, being in prison had defiantly made Cody bitter over the years—or was he bitter even then, all those years ago? In either case, the trial was almost ready to begin and Phoenix nodded.

"All right, now we just—,"

A short squeal followed by a blur of black and red crashed into Cody and gave him a tight hug.

"Cody! Oh, Cody, it's so good to see you again!" the person chirped. "You look a little pale though…"

Cody rolled his eyes at the woman. "Thanks. I try_ so_ hard to look like a bloodthirsty vampire."

The woman was maybe around Cody's age, she had dark hair, with a single streak in a bright red color; she wore a white top with short, tan-colored jeans.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Alex asked, walking up to her.

Cody turned to the group and said, "This is Jenna, Jenna Marie. We're friends—"

"Best friends," Jenna pouted, the arm around Cody's waist signaling that they were indeed long term friends.

"Oh, all right," Cody said impatiently (although Phoenix swore he saw him smile a little), "we're best friends; she was the witness who testified for me in the last trial."

"She did?" Phoenix asked, "Wasn't that the testimony that got discarded?"

Jenna's face fell into a frown, "But it was the truth! I know what I saw and heard that day! I know Cody didn't do it!"

Phoenix nodded. "All right… then they obviously brought you back to give your testimony again, right? So if what you say is true, then I'll show the court that it is."

"I'm counting on you, Mr. Wright," Jenna smiled, "Right. Cody?"

"Um, sure," Cody mumbled: his face was tinted red, which stood out against his slightly pale face.

"The trial is ready. Will the defendant please enter the courtroom with his lawyer?" the bailiff announced mechanically.

"It's time," Cody remarked, and Phoenix nodded.

"I'll see you in court," Jenna nodded. "But—oh! Not in a bad way!" she said, realizing she had just used a phrase with typically negative connotations. "And when you declared Not Guilty, you can buy me a milkshake!"

"Um…" Cody paused, "with what money?"

"I'll lend you some, don't worry," Jenna said dismissively, and then she turned around and left.

Phoenix raised his eyebrow, "Wait… she's going to lend you money to have you buy her a milkshake?"

Cody sighed. "She's weird like that."

Phoenix shook his head, slightly confused. He turned to Maya and smiled.

"So, are you coming?" Phoenix asked, but his smile faltered slightly when Maya frowned.

"I'm sorry, Nick, I'm feeling a little sick from… well, you know," Maya answered—but she smiled a little when she said, "I have managed to find a replacement, though!"

"Oh, really?" Phoenix asked, a little worried about who she picked.

Then the double doors to the defendant's lobby opened up, and a little girl around eleven with short brown hair, a light purple yukata and a small briefcase in her hand entered enthusiastically.

"Hi, Mr. Nick! I made it!"

It was Maya's younger cousin, Pearl Fey.

"Pearls? Why are you… wait a minute, are the—" Phoenix began, but Pearl answered for him.

"I'm the replacement for Mystic Maya! I'm so happy for you becoming a father, Mr. Nick!" Pearl cheered, and then her face changed to a more serious look. "But Mystic Maya told me what to do if you need help: scream really loud, right?"

_What is she talking about? Oh..._

"Um, don't scream loudly, Pearls: I think Maya was talking about if you're ever in _danger_. How about you just—um, take notes?" Phoenix suggested. Pearl's face dropped a little, but she smiled nonetheless.

"Okay then, I'll take notes because you're so forgetful," Pearl said happily. Phoenix just sighed.

"You better get going," Doyle warned. "Court starts in a few minutes, remember?"

"Oh, right! Pearls, Cody, let's go," Phoenix said as the three of them headed towards the courtroom.

"Hold up, Phoenix."

Phoenix stopped and saw Alex walking towards him. Phoenix motioned for Cody and Pearl to go ahead while Alex approached him.

"A little warning: don't underestimate Carrie Stone," Alex said, and Phoenix crossed his arms, waiting for him to continue.

"She _is_ a bit of a klutz, yes, but if you let her get an edge she'll walk all over you." Alex sighed. "However: she is a little… overconfident in her work, if you can get one solid hit on her, she'll falter."

"Ok," Phoenix unfolded his arms and nodded, "But… why are you telling me this?"

Alex paused, unsure of how to continue. He folded his arms and he sighed as he avoided Phoenix's staring eyes.

"If Cody is the target of these men, and they're already blackmailing a prosecutor, I think you should know who you're up against. Know the person's strength's and weaknesses."

"And how do you know Ms. Stone's strengths?" Phoenix asked, but Alex turned his back to him.

"That… is none of your business," Alex stated flatly as he began to walk over to Doyle and Maya.

Phoenix thought for a moment. There was definitely more to the… (relationship?) between Carrie Stone and Alex Lionheart.

However, Phoenix had no time to dwell on this subject: he had a trial to attend. He turned around and stepped inside the courthouse.

* * *

March 2nd, 10:00am

District Courthouse

Courtroom number 2

_(Play: Trial Opening (T&T Version))_

The Court settled down the moment the Judge had slammed his gavel.

"The retrial of Cody Hawk is now in session," The Judge announced.

"The defense is ready, Your Honor," Phoenix answered.

No answer came from the prosecutor's bench. When everyone looked, they found out that there wasn't even a prosecutor!

"Um, where's Ms. Stone?" the Judge asked.

If the entire courtroom had listened carefully, they would have heard the sound of running footsteps and frantic yelling.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH! NOT AGAINNNNNNNNNN!"

Suddenly the doors of the courtroom burst open and a whirlwind of red hair zoomed over to the prosecution's bench.

Carrie Stone set her briefcase on her desk and panted for a bit, but she did manage through it all to speak to the judge.

"S-sorry, Your Honor! I-I was just…..um…. checking… something… or… something—_no,don'trepeatyourselfcalmdown!_"

_How did she ever pass the bar exam?_ Phoenix wondered.

The entire courtroom stared at her for the longest time, and when seemed like she was finished everyone relaxed a little.

Out of nowhere she yelled out, "HI SORRY I'M READY TO GO!"

_No, seriously, how did she ever become a prosecutor?_ Phoenix mentally groaned.

"Yes… we see you're ready," the Judge slowly nodded. "Your opening statement, please?"

_(Play Carrie's Theme: Kind eyes, Sharp tongue – Tatakau Monotachi (piano version), Nobuo Uematsu)_

"Yes," Carrie replied, then she closed her eyes and when she opened them there was something different about her: the look in her eyes was that of a painter inspecting both subject and easel and comparing the two.

"A former lawyer named Cody Hawk was convicted of the murder of one Lucas Bryan. After the initial investigation, however, it seems that new evidence has shown up, and the prosecution here today is going to prove to you all that the new evidence doesn't stand a chance in changing the defendant's verdict that was handed down to him."

She finished her last sentence with an air of smug confidence around her that reminded Phoenix of Manfred Von Karma, and made him feel angry just by the mental association. The trial had barely started and Phoenix already had to resist the urge to go and choke her with his tie. Alex was right about her being overly confident in herself, but Phoenix had been in enough trials to know to not underestimate someone because of their personality.

"I see. You seem confident Ms. Stone." The Judge nodded, "Mr. Wright, your opening statement?"

_(Play Phoenix's theme: The Ace Attorney – Sora, Yoko Shimomura)_

"Your Honor, my client, Cody Hawk, has been wrongfully accused. The new evidence will indeed prove my client did not murder his mentor, Lucas Bryan," Phoenix stated calmly. He had the air of someone who possessed both confidence and the skill of lawyer. He wasn't exactly overflowing with assuredness, but it was there.

Carrie smiled smugly. "Believe what you want, Mr. Wright."

Phoenix bit back his outrage and simply stood there, gazing at her plainly. It must have unnerved Carrie, because she fidgeted slightly under his eyes. The Judge didn't see this silent contest, and he slammed his gavel, addressing the court once again.

"Very well. Before we can release the new evidence, there is the matter of a testimony that was previously discounted—the prosecution's case was very strong and the defense lacked evidence. Of course, now that it has been found, we have decided to hear that testimony first. Ms. Stone, the witness?"

"The first witness I'd like to call is a good friend of the defendant's. I call Ms. Jenna Marie to the stand," Carrie announced. The bailiff disappeared for a moment and when he returned, Jenna was walking next to him.

Jenna took the stand, and Ms. Stone directed her attention to the witness.

"Well now, Witness. Would you please state your name and occupation to the court?"

Jenna nodded, "Jenna Marie is my name, and my occupation? Hmm…"

She put her finger to her lips thoughtfully and tilted her hips slightly, making for an alluring picture. After a moment she smiled sweetly and answered with confidence.

"Being really sexy, I suppose."

Phoenix was pretty sure every man and woman raised an eyebrow at that statement; he did see Carrie scoff quietly.

"That's um, quite a profession," Phoenix remarked. Jenna wagged her finger at him and answered.

"Sorry Mr. Wright, only my dear sweet Cody has a chance with me." Jenna smiled as she turned her gaze to Cody, who blushed red once again and avoided her gaze.

"It looks like you were shot down, Mr. Wright," the Judge noted.

"But I'm married!!" Phoenix cried out, which earned a gasp from Ms. Stone.

"You're married and you decided to flirt with the witness?! Shame on you!" Carrie said as her eyes narrowed so that her brow fit perfectly with the rims of her smallish glasses.

"How could you, Mr. Nick!" Pearl shouted, punching Phoenix in the shoulder.

_Why does it always have to be me?!_ Phoenix whimpered silently.

The Judge cleared his throat and turned to Jenna, "Do you believe you can remember the events accurately enough to provide testimony?"

"Sure I can!" Jenna winked at the defense's table. "For my dear sweet Cody, I'll do _anything…"_

Cody groaned. "God help us all."

Phoenix grimaced. _I share your sentiments, believe me…_

**Witness Testimony**

**What Happened**

"I was in the car with my dear sweet Cody when we dropped off Mr. Bryan at Highlander's Cliff. We waited there for a bit, but then Cody up and left me—he said something about looking for Mr. Bryan. Anyway, after a while there was a small bang, and then Mr. Bryan fell from somewhere and landed next to the car! And I know it looks bad, Mr. Judge, but Cody didn't do it!"

"My dear Witness," Carrie began, pausing to stir her cup of tea, "it's really not your position to tell anyone who's guilty of what, is it? I believe that the evidence has already stated its position once: it'll say it again and there's not a human alive who can tell us otherwise."

Jenna's eyes widened in shock but sparked angry. "Well aren't you a little—"

"OK NOW!" Phoenix shouted. "I'd like to proceed with the cross-examination."

The Judge nodded and Phoenix looked back at Carrie. She was stirring her tea with a smug look on her face that made Phoenix's blood boil.

_You're wrong, Ms. Stone— and I'll show you the truth._

**Cross Examination**

**What Happened**

_(Play: Cross Examination 1 (GA Version) — Waltz of the Diamond, Yoko Shimomura)_

"Ms. Marie, are you sure he left the car? I thought he was there until the body fell," Phoenix remarked.

"Well, he was actually by the front gate, but that's really close to the car, so he was around, at least," Jenna smiled. "Here, I have a map of the area!"

Jenna pulled out the trail map, which was stamped with the month of the murder. Then she took out a red ballpoint pen and began to demonstrate to the court where everyone was.

"We were here on the side of the road between the front gate and the path to the opposite cliff. The front gate is only a few steps from where we parked the car. Now, Mr. Bryan went up the mountain to the meeting place, which I believe is on the ledge of Highlander Cliff. Anyway, Cody was right here by the front gate until Mr. Bryan landed on the ground."

Jenna sighed tiredly and looked at everyone. "Are there any questions about this?"

Phoenix paused, he did, actually, have one question: "You mentioned that there was an area opposite from the gate to Highlander Cliff. What is the other area?"

"Oh that? It leads up to another cliff directly facing Highlander Cliff, I remember, because I said last time that the two ledges could have almost made a tunnel if they were as close as Cody and I are," Jenna blushed a bright red, and Cody mirrored her action, but wincing slightly as well.

"We're not that close…" Cody mumbled, earning a slam from the Judge's gavel.

"Thank you for the explanation, Ms. Marie. Now will Mr. Wright please continue his cross-examination?"

"Ok then," Phoenix nodded, and he proceeded with his next question. "Do you know why Cody left to the front gate?"

Jenna sighed as she answered. "I think he left to find out why Mr. Bryan was taking so long, but…"

"But? But what?" Phoenix asked, hoping to uncover a clue.

"I think he maybe may have left because I…" Jenna blushed red as she answered, "rubbed his leg a little?"

Phoenix did a double take: this was not the kind of clue he wanted to uncover at all, especially not with Pearl in the defense stand.

"You… rubbed his leg?" Phoenix asked quietly.

"Well we were friends for so long," Jenna sighed longingly, "I thought maybe we could take the next step and—"

"Objection!" Phoenix shouted, his face bright red.

"You object to that statement? On what grounds?" The Judge asked.

Any number of reasons ran through Phoenix's mind:

_Because my assistant is a little kid!? Because it's too disturbing? Because it's endangering my client's health? _(Cody did look rather weak at this point) _Because I doubt that this is going anywhere that would be allowed on television?_

"Um, because… it's not relevant?" Phoenix said hesitantly. He smiled sheepishly.

The Judge sighed. "Sustained… but personally, Mr. Wright, I feel that it is the court's duty to examine every part of the case thoroughly."

_Yeah, I'll bet… _Phoenix thought, remembering the Judge's habit of being… _fascinated_ by beautiful witnesses

"Mr. Wright, why are you looking at me like that?" The Judge asked, slightly scooting back in his chair.

"Um… no reason," Phoenix shrugged.

The Judge relaxed a little, but he still eyed him warily, "Mr. Wright, are there any more questions?"

Phoenix paused—there seemed to be nothing contradictory at all. But then he remembered something The Judge had said, something about the new evidence and the testimony.

"Um, Your Honor, didn't you say something about the new evidence supporting this testimony? The defense would like to know what the evidence is," Phoenix stated.

"Ah yes," the Judge nodded. "The evidence is… a bullet."

"A bullet?" Phoenix asked. "From where?"

"It was found in the victim's body. For some reason it was missed during the first autopsy, and because of this, Ms. Marie's testimony was discarded," The Judge answered. "I have it here."

The Judge held out a plastic bag with a single long, thin bullet inside it, which he placed on the table.

Phoenix had a sneaky suspicion about why the bullet was missed during the first report, but this brought up another question.

"How was the bullet found?" Phoenix asked, "I mean, the case is a few years old—they couldn't just pull out the body and reexamine it could they?"

The Judge nodded. "A very good point Mr. Wright, but I believe Ms. Stone would be better suited to answer this question."

However, when Phoenix turned his attention to Ms. Stone, she seemed to be more focused on stirring her cup of tea. The court waited a full 5 minutes before Ms. Stone finally looked up and realized the court was watching her.

"I'm sorry, did I miss anything?" Carrie asked, looking at Phoenix and The Judge.

Suddenly Cody shot up and yelled, "How did you become a prosecutor?! Seriously!"

"Mr. Hawk, please refrain from yelling at the unfortunate woman," The Judge requested, unintentionally soliciting an angry gasp from Ms. Stone.

"Unfortunate?! Is this how women are referred to these days?!" Carrie glared at the Judge, who recoiled at her yelling. "Unfortunate?! Well that just figures, because no matter what respectable job women get, men always refer to women as lesser or unfortunate people! It's just like yesterday when I was at Third and Fourth Avenue and a man asked me why I wasn't stripping in front of him; he thought I was a stripper, now why would he think that? I'll tell you why, it's because women are being mistreated!"

"Um," Cody interrupted as he stated, "I think the reason is that Third and Fourth Avenue has a strip club?"

However, Ms. Stone was still continuing her rant about Women's Rights, and Phoenix decided to try and use this time to figure out why the bullet was important to the testimony. He went back through Jenna's testimony in his head, and as he was approaching the end, he found exactly what he was looking for.

"Objection!" Phoenix yelled, catching the court's attention.

However Carrie seemed to be fumed by his objection, "Mr. Wright I'll have you know that Woman's Rights are very important and—"

"I wasn't objecting to Women's Rights!" Phoenix said quickly, aware that this could turn out to be very bad for him if he didn't stop it soon—Maya was probably watching on a television somewhere. "I meant the witness's statement."

"Oh," Carrie gasped, as her face went red with embarrassment. "You may continue," she mumbled.

"Witness, what did you say you heard before the body fell?" Phoenix asked. "You said it was a small 'bang'?"

"Yes, I did," Jenna answered, "And then the body fell right after that."

"Objection!" Carrie said while twirling a strand of her hair, "Why are we—rather, _you_—picking at insignificant details like that? The 'bang' she heard could have been something like a nearby tree crying in agonizing pain as it hit the ground— and perhaps the cause of this poor tree's death was Mr. Bryan's poor body being flung into it by Mr. Hawk."

"Wait... trees scream in pain?" The Judge asked, and Carrie nodded.

"Yes, they do. It's been proven, stop by my office later to see the reports," Carrie took a sip of tea, unaware of how off-topic she was.

"Oh man… I killed a baby tree last week," The Judge whimpered. "It was in the way of my window…"

_But trees don't scream!_ Phoenix thought, exasperated by the fact that the Judge actually believed the prosecutor's outrageous claims.

"Well, Mr. Wright, whatever you were trying to say has been countered… again." Carrie smiled smarmily, "I feel sorry for you."

Phoenix shook his head, grinning. "Actually Ms. Stone, I feel so sorry for you."

"Um… what?" Carrie asked, confused by Phoenix's sudden confidence.

"Ms. Stone, the reason why Mr. Hawk is being tried again is because some new evidence was discovered. The new evidence was a bullet, remember?" Phoenix asked.

"Y-yes I do, but why are you bringing thing up?" Carrie asked, her own confidence wavering. "I have the autopsy report here, and it says Mr. Bryan died of a broken neck. What does a bullet have to do…with… her… testimony?!"

Carrie's eyes widened and her hand flew to her mouth: it had taken her a while, but she seemed to have figured it out.

"Yes, the bullet in question was the evidence that was newly discovered. But Ms. Stone, where was the bullet found exactly?" Phoenix asked.

Carrie pulled out a folder and frowned. "The bullet was eventually found lodged in the victim's ribcage, because of this they can not identify ballistic markings very well," Carrie read from the report, "Although the type of bullet is commonly found in rifles, the kind used for hunting."

Phoenix nodded. "The bullet was found in the victim's body. In Ms. Marie's testimony, she stated that she had heard a 'bang' before the victim fell from the cliff. Thanks to this new evidence, I believe I can say this: the witness's testimony is in fact true!"

The court began to converse amongst themselves until The Judge ended it with his gavel.

"Order! Well done, Mr. Wright, you have discovered the problem with the testimony and the evidence," the Judge congratulated.

"Witness, are you positive about hearing this 'bang'?" Phoenix asked.

Jenna nodded, "Yes! I am positive I heard a 'bang' before the body fell!"

"If what you say is true, then it means that the witness did hear a gunshot! The bullet was found in the body's remains, which means the victim did not die of a broken neck! He died from being shot!"

Suddenly Phoenix caught a whiff of something. It smelled like… tea?

Phoenix looked over at the prosecution's bench to see Ms. Stone idly sipping a cup of tea.

"Well done, Mr. Wright. You did discover that a bullet was indeed fired that day—but what does that change?" Carrie smiled. "Nothing, I'm afraid. It seems as if, when Mr. Bryan was turned, Mr. Hawk pulled out a gun and shot him. Then before the police came, he discarded his gun and tried to get away. See, it changes nothing really."

Phoenix had been here before many times in his career, and over the years he had learned to keep a cool head in situations like this. He paused and he considered his options carefully, and when he had finally reached a decision he addressed the court.

"Well, then: I would like to request a testimony from the witness. I would like to know what happened after the body fell from the ledge."

"Hold it!" Carrie called out shakily. "There is no need to request a testimony! We have proven that the new evidence doesn't really change anything, r-right?"

Phoenix raised an eyebrow. Why was Ms. Stone acting so nervous?

Then he remembered what Alex discovered when he visited her at the office, and the threat Police Chief Jones made to her.

She's trying to make sure the trial end quickly. I guess Alex was wrong about her…

"Objection! Your Honor, I am confident that this testimony will be crucial to this case!" Phoenix shouted.

"Objection! Mr. Wright you can't just—," Carrie began, however she stopped midway and then she sighed, "I seem to have lost my train of thought. I guess Ms. Marie can testify—just don't get too comfortable, Mr. Wright."

Phoenix raised his eyebrow. Ms. Stone was an odd one, but Alex had said that one good hit on the testimony would cause her confidence to waver.

"Well, Ms. Stone, I guess we should let the witness testify," the Judge sighed. "All right then, Ms. Marie: please tell the court what happened after the body fell."

Jenna nodded, "Yes sir, I'll try my best!"

**Witness Testimony**

**After the body fell**

"After the body fell from the ledge. I got out of the car to see what happened—and I saw Mr. Bryan on the ground, blood pouring out of his back! I was so scared! I waited by the car and phoned the police: when they got there they went up to check the hill for clues—but instead they came back with my Cody in handcuffs!"

"Y-your Cody?" Phoenix asked, in which Cody laid his head on the table to hide his red face.

"Yep, my Cody, no one else can have him!" Jenna added brightly, glancing at the court audience as if to make sure they got the message.

"Yes, well, I'll, um, begin the Cross Examination now," Phoenix sighed. _How come I always get the weirdos? _

**Cross Examination**

**After the body fell**

(_Play: Cross Examination 2 (GA Version) – Sinister Sundown, Yoko Shimomura)_

"Ms. Marie, did you see anyone on the ledge where Mr. Bryan fell?" Phoenix asked.

Jenna paused for a minute, her face pulled into a frown as she concentrated on remembering that day.

"…No. Sorry, Mr. Wright, but I didn't see anybody on the ledge." Jenna frowned. "I'm sorry, Cody."

Cody lifted his head and he sighed. "It's not your fault. Just… just continue the testimony."

"Oh, ok!" Jenna said, in a tone that she used enough to make Phoenix believe she was love-struck every time Cody even grunted.

Phoenix was in trouble: there wasn't much in Jenna's testimony to really go on, but if he didn't find a contradiction, Cody would be declared guilty… again.

"Hey, Pearls, can I see the autopsy report?" Phoenix asked, figuring it wouldn't hurt to check everything he could.

"Of course, Mr. Nick! Um… here it is!" Pearl smiled as she handed him the autopsy report.

Phoenix looked at the report, hoping to find something wrong. Nothing seemed to jump out at him, however. The bullet had indeed entered the victim's back, and that would make sense if Mr. Bryan was facing away from his killer. Phoenix was really grasping now, but he still had one piece of evidence to compare with the testimony: the map Jenna showed to the court. He unfolded the map and studied the surrounding area… and then he saw it: it wasn't great, but it was the only thing he might be able to get away with. He had to run with it.

"Objection!" Phoenix shouted, pointing his finger dramatically. "Ms. Stone, your theory about the bullet was a pretty good theory."

"Oh," Carrie gasped, apparently shocked by the sudden complement, "Um… why, thank you. But what are you getting at?"

"I don't think you understand." Here Phoenix grinned triumphantly. "It _was_ a pretty good theory."

"Wha-What?!" Carrie exclaimed.

Phoenix began to explain. "You believed that the bullet could have entered his back if he turned around—and Mr. Hawk could easily dispose of his gun in the area, correct?"

"Yes, I did say that… didn't I? I'm sure I did. I mean, how hard is it? I mean I'm sure I did—_Noyou'rerepeatingyourselfgrahhhhhh!_" Carrie stuttered the whole way.

"I'd like the court to take a look at the map. Now, the area where Mr. Bryan was standing is an open field," Phoenix stated. "If Mr. Hawk were to dispose of his gun as claimed, wouldn't the gun already be in the courtroom? Who could miss a possible murder weapon _lying on the ground at the scene of the crime_?!"

"WHAAAAATTT?!" Carrie burst out as the courtroom began to murmur again.

The Judge slammed his gavel and addressed the court. "Mr. Wright presents a good theory. It would be impossible for Mr. Hawk to dispose of the gun in that area."

"Objection!" Carrie shouted, "He had time before the police came! He could have disposed of it elsewhere!"

"Objection!" Phoenix countered. "There is only one way down the mountain and that's to the side of the road, but Jenna Marie has testified that she only saw Cody come down the mountain after the police went up to get him! Even if Mr. Hawk had a gun and got rid of it by throwing it away, the only place it could have ended up was over the ledge, which is where Mr. Bryan's body was found! Everybody would have seen it!"

"Arghhhhhh! YOU LOUSY LAWYER!" Carrie screeched, spilling tea all over the floor, "Then where could the gun be, huh?! Tell me that!"

"Okay, then." Phoenix nodded. "The only place the gun could be is on the other side of Highlander's Cliff: namely, the other ledge!"

The courtroom began to rumble once again, only to be halted immediately by the Judge's gavel.

"Mr. Wright, why would the murder weapon be there?"

"Simple," Phoenix answered. "The area on the other side is heavily wooded—a murder weapon could easily be hidden there. Not only that, but if the bullet entered Mr. Bryan's back, it's likely that the shooter was on—"

"The other side of the cliff!" the Judge finished enthusiastically. "Well, Ms. Stone? Do you have any evidence to disprove this?"

Carrie didn't say anything for a long time and merely sipped her tea. Then she replied, "No, Your Honor, I don't have any… _evidence_. I do, however, have another witness: one who can testify about Mr. Hawk's clever crime."

"Another witness?" Pearl gasped, but Phoenix knew this was coming—they had, after all, declared the presence of _two_ witnesses.

The Judge slammed his gavel and announced, "Before we hear this witness, I would like to call a recess. We will reconvene in an half an hour. Court is adjourned."

To be continued

* * *

Hahaha, I hope I still got it! In any case, I'm trying to aim for a more mature Phoenix—he is not as easily surprised as he was before. I hope you like it. Until the next chapter! 

Whoooo! I'm so sorry it took a month! I'd love to say it would be the last time, but I can't guarantee that. In any case you should know that I try to get the chapters coming out as soon as I can, till later.


	6. Guardians of Turnabout: pt5

Disclaimer: I do not own Phoenix Wright.

Hey readers, I have made a forum in Fanfiction (dot) net just for RL and GA, I have a few topics up so I would like to hear what you think of them. Anyway, now for reviews:

Lone Wolf: Yep, and I'm surprised none of the other prosecutors have ever said that yet.

Theres. Beauty. In. The. Breakdown.: She is a mess, and yet she is fun like that.

Count X. Gamlxltoe Nightmare: Yeah, yeah I know and… wait, PROPANE TANK?! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!

Shadow Bladewolf: She's all of that, and added with a dash of 'klutz.' Jess can make a character, 95 percent of those lines are all hers from our discussions.

Mentality at its Worst: She seems to be, actually, she seems to be scared of everyone.

sonicandlink: Wait no more… wait, why are you running?

Nick Wright: Oh really? Hahah, I can't believe it.

Faermage KH-Junkie: Welcome to Guardian Angels, and thank you for reviewing RL. As for Leo? He plays a role in this in someway; unfortunately it will be a bit of a secret.

That's it; I hope you enjoy the chapter. Editing credits go to Nick Wright.

* * *

Guardians of Turnabout

Part 5

Victory?

* * *

March 2nd, 11:00 AM

District Courthouse

Defendant Lobby No. 2

Phoenix sat on the sofa in the defendant's lobby along with Maya and Pearl. Everyone else was standing up. The group was discussing the outlook on the case.

"So…" Alex began, "Lucas was shot in the back?"

"Yes," Phoenix nodded, "and whoever shot him came from the opposite ledge."

"It can't be Cody," Doyle pointed out. "I don't know about Jenna, but there is this 'other witness' testifying."

"Could the next witness be the killer?" Maya wondered, placing her hands in her lap.

"I guess I'll find out during the Cross Examination," Phoenix answered, leaning backwards and resting his chin on his knuckles.

Alex sighed heavily, "I still can't believe that she would do that… try to force off a valid point, it's not like her."

"How would you know, Alex?" Phoenix asked, throwing the challenge out into the air between them.

Alex didn't meet Phoenix's gaze: instead he closed his eyes and drew himself into a deep thought. He remained that way for a while, then finally he opened his eyes and frowned.

"We aren't going to win this case easily if Ms. Stone has been blackmailed. We have to lift the pressure off her shoulders so she feels like she has room to maneuver. In case you hadn't noticed, she gets stressed out enough as it is." Alex stated flatly, in the tone one would use when discussing the weather report. He removed any chance for further questioning by turning and proceeding towards the prosecution lobby.

"Wait!" Doyle yelled. "Alex!"

But Alex had already walked off and disappeared behind the double doors, and Doyle gave a heavy sigh and ran after him. Maya had also stood up and followed the two men—her curiosity demanded she investigate Alex's strange fascination with Ms. Stone.

* * *

March 2nd, 11:10 AM

District Courthouse

Prosecution's Lobby

Alex walked swiftly down the halls, Doyle and Maya following him as inconspicuously as possible. Alex burst through the doors at the end of the hallway, and his two shadows followed him through. Whatever the three of them were expecting to find, it probably wasn't Police Chief Geoff Jones glaring at Ms. Stone, who was sitting meekly in a chair with a cup of tea in her hands.

"Now, if I remember correctly, I instructed you to do _everything that was necessary, _did I not?" Geoff snarled, and Carrie nodded robotically.

"So why is it that you humiliated me in court by disobeying and letting that defense attorney get the better of you?" Geoff continued, his eyes burning with rage.

"The trial's not over yet," Carrie said weakly, "I can still win, he only got lucky—" pedant

Before she could even finish the sentence, Geoff's hand stretched across her cheek. A quiet whimper from Carrie followed as a small object fell to the ground; it was a pendant that was in the shape of an angel. Carrie made a small cry and immediately scooped up the pendant, Geoff scoffed at her action.

"You disgust me," Geoff snarled, but as he turned to walk away he came face to face with Alex.

"You're out of line," Alex growled. Geoff stood his ground.

"And you are?" Geoff asked idly, as if the little event never even happened.

However Alex didn't answer him, instead he took a threatening step forward, "Apologize."

"For what?" Geoff asked, a small smirk on his face as he said it.

"Apologize now," Alex repeated, his voice thick with hate.

Geoff didn't make any indication that he even heard Alex. He turned to Carrie. "I'll expect your resignation letter tomorrow, Ms. Stone. I hope you enjoy the adventure that is unemployment."

"Unfortunately, I can't allow that," said a voice in a slightly irreverent drawl. Maya recognized it instantly, as did Geoff, who turned to face the speaker.

He didn't bother to conceal the animosity in his voice as he said, "Chief Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth. It's so nice to see you."

Edgeworth stood at the doorway coolly, his eyes taking in every detail of the scene. He walked towards Geoff until they were face to face.

"Oh really? And why can't you?" Geoff asked, his voice filled with disdain.

"Simple," Edgeworth answered coolly, "You're not her employer."

Geoff raised an eyebrow, as did Maya and Doyle. Edgeworth gave an exasperated sigh. "I hired her; I brought her into the Prosecution's Office, not you. That being said, I will decide what to do with Ms. Stone, and letting her go is not on my agenda. Ms. Stone stays."

Geoff stared at him with a look of disdain, which Edgeworth returned without faltering. The Police Chief gave Edgeworth a smirk and answered, "For now."

With that he turned and headed for the door, he walked a bit until he saw Maya and Doyle at the exit.

"Ah Mrs. Wright, good to hear you are healthy." He chuckled in a way that made Maya's spine tingle. Geoff turned to Doyle and smirked. "Allen Doyle, it's been awhile."

"Your first name is Allen?" Carrie asked quietly from her chair, causing Doyle to flush red.

Doyle didn't respond to Geoff's remark and he and Maya stepped aside, allowing him through. He walked towards the exit when he stopped once again, it seemed like he felt the need to say something.

"By the way, Ms. Stone, the late Alex Lionheart's death was a tragedy that I would hate to see happen to any of my employees. I hope we don't lose you too—especially since you are the one half of that couple who survived," Geoff added with a sly grin, and then he finally walked off.

Maya was shocked—did he just say what she thought he said? She turned and looked at the "late" Alex Lionheart: his expression had not changed and he seemed to stare through the doors, watching Geoff's path. Finally, Alex too walked out of the door and down the hall.

"Ms. Stone," Edgeworth said curtly to her, "if I hear that you have concealed evidence, you _will_ be let go."

"Yes sir, I'll do my best," she nodded, slipping on the pendant before taking her briefcase and walking outside.

Edgeworth smiled thinly as Carrie walked back into the courtroom. He then turned to Maya and Doyle, arms folded.

"It would seem I am not the only person Alex decided to take into his confidence," he said, gesturing to the TV, "I'm afraid it's too late to enter the courtroom—but you can see what's happening on that TV over there."

* * *

March 2nd, 11:30 AM

District Courthouse

Courtroom number 2

Carrie and Phoenix had entered the courtroom just before the Judge slammed his gavel, signaling the continuation of the trial.

"The trial of Cody Hawk is ready to reconvene. Ms. Stone, your witness?"

"Yes sir," She nodded, Phoenix noticed she didn't seem as tense as she had earlier.

She addressed the court, "The witness was on a trip in the woods when he stumbled upon the murder, the prosecution calls Mr. Slade Quarry to the stand."

The courtroom doors opened and the bailiff entered along with a man with light brown hair, a square jaw, a hunter's jacket, and a five o'clock shadow. He stepped on the stand and Carrie began the standard questions.

"Your name and occupation?" she asked, taking a sip of the tea that she had sitting on the desk.

"Slade Quarry, I'm a hunter," He answered, "I catch all sorts of animals and mount them on my wall."

"You what?!" Carrie spat, startling the court. "You do what with what?!"

"Ms. Stone, we are not allowed to judge a person by their profession," the Judge answered sternly. "No matter how appalling, senseless, disgusting, or downright morally reprehensible it may be."

"Yes, Your Honor," she answered, still fuming.

_Wait, how could you not know what he did? Isn't he _your_ witness?_ Phoenix thought. He'd given up trying to ask these kinds of things out loud.

Carrie addressed the witness. "You were at the scene of the crime on the day of the murder, correct?"

"Yes I was," Slade nodded, "I testified against the defendant in the previous trial."

"Mr. Quarry, please recount your testimony for the court," The Judge requested.

Slade nodded. "Sure."

**Witness Testimony**

**That day**

"I was in the woods, searching for a buck to mount on my wall when I found myself at Highlander's Cliff. I saw two men there: one had bright red hair, and he was talking to someone on the cliff ledge. Then, without warning, the red-haired man pushed the other guy off the ledge. I hung around to see what happened and soon the police showed up and took him away."

"Mr. Nick, I thought the victim was shot in the back?" Pearl asked, her face showing confusion.

"He was, but this testimony is what the witness _saw._ What really happened is probably that the victim was shot and then he fell off the ledge, and Mr. Quarry guessed that meant he was pushed. Remember, the new evidence was just presented today," Phoenix explained.

"I see," Pearl nodded, "But, shouldn't he have heard the gun? The lady earlier heard it."

"True," Phoenix nodded, "but we'll find out for sure in a minute."

Pearl nodded and Phoenix cleared his throat. "I'm going to begin my Cross Examination, Your Honor."

**Cross Examination**

**That day**

_(Play: Cross Examination 1 (GA Version) – Waltz of the Diamond, Yoko Shimomura)_

"When you say you were at Highlander's Cliff, I assume you mean the side with the defendant and the victim, correct?" Phoenix asked, double-checking his notes.

"Yes," He answered.

"Did you hear anything before the body fell?" Phoenix asked, "Maybe a loud bang?"

"N-No, nothing like that," Slade replied, "I didn't hear anything like that."

_Why is he so nervous?_ Phoenix wondered, noticing the witness was fidgeting slightly.

"The witness obviously did not hear a gunshot," Carrie interjected, "He was too busy killing some poor, innocent animal."

"He wasn't even doing that either… yet," Phoenix said. "He did say he was hun—"

Phoenix paused, what did that man say earlier? He was hunting, right? But that was impossible!

"Objection!" Phoenix proclaimed, "Mr. Quarry, you claim you were hunting in the woods? I say you weren't!"

"Oh?" Carrie raised an eyebrow, "I assume you have evidence. You can prove this man was not hunting in the woods?"

"Yes I can," Phoenix nodded, "Because… there were no woods to hunt in."

"What?" Carrie gasped, nearly dropping her tea cup.

"Remember that earlier I proved it was impossible to hide a murder weapon in that area?" Phoenix recalled, pulling out the map of the area, "Because it was _an open field_!"

"Ah!" Carrie screamed, spilling tea on the desk, "But, that's… oooohhh, I lost my train of thought, again."

"Hold on!" Slade called out, "I was hunting that day! I have evidence."

"You do?" Phoenix asked, not expecting this development.

"Yes, my rifle, I bought it that day specifically for hunting—I even have some of the bullets used for it," Slade smirked. "I brought both pieces with me."

"The court accepts them into evidence," The Judge nodded, "It seems like he was indeed hunting; but, Mr. Quarry, the defense does have a strong point. How can you hunt in an area with no woods to hunt in or any animals to kill?"

"Well, I wasn't in the field exactly," Slade paused, "I was actually down the trail, about halfway from the top to the entrance. But I still saw the crime, and I can still testify."

"All right," the Judge nodded, "you may start your testimony."

**Witness Testimony**

**The murder**

"I was on the trail all morning waiting for something to come. I was about to leave when I saw a man on the ledge of the cliff. I watched for a bit, thinking it was odd that he was standing so close to the edge, and then I saw this guy with red hair come from nowhere and push him off! The guy fell and landed next to the car where the pretty brunette from earlier was."

"Pretty brunette? Do you mean Jenna Marie?" Phoenix asked, remembering that she was at the car when the incident happened.

"Yeah, her," Slade he said, leering. "Too bad that Cody guy already has her heart: I would have taken it if she'd let me."

"I… have her heart?" Cody asked quietly, it was more to himself than to the court.

_Don't worry, when I clear your name you two can have all the time you need to sort this out, I promise, _Phoenix thought, as he watched Cody struggle through his feelings it reminded him of himself, when he was trying to sort out his own for Maya.

"Mr. Wright, are you going to cross examine the witness?" The Judge asked, snapping Phoenix from his pleasant daydream.

"Huh? Oh yes, I'll begin the cross examination," He answered, slipping his hand into his pocket and pulling out his Magatama, he had a feeling he would need it.

**Cross Examination**

**The Murder**

_(Play: Cross Examination 2 (GA Version) – Sinister Sundown, Yoko Shimomura)_

"Hold it, you saw the Cliff from the trail?" Phoenix asked, wanting to get some info.

"Yeah, the trail winds around the cliff, so I could see the cliff ledge from the spot where I was at," Slade answered.

"Hmm, I must take a trip up there sometime…" the Judge pondered, until he realized he was in the middle of a trial. "Oh, you may continue, Mr. Wright."

"You were on the trail all morning?" Phoenix asked, "How come no one saw you?"

"I was wearing a scenery disguise," Slade explained, "There was a thick brush I was hiding in, at the side of the trail… what, did you think I was going to stand there in the middle of the trail with a gun?"

"No… I guess not," Phoenix frowned, figuring that it was too easy to get a contradiction off that. He cleared his throat and continued, "Mr. Quarry, when you saw Mr. Bryan by the ledge, are you sure you didn't hear a gunshot?"

"Objection!" Carrie countered, "The witness has already stated that he didn't hear a gunshot before. Just because his point of view changed doesn't mean his hearing would."

"Objection! Ms. Stone, Ms. Marie has testified that there was a bullet. The new autopsy report proved it, so don't you find it odd?" Phoenix questioned, hoping she wouldn't try and force it off.

"I won't deny the autopsy report, but the witness wasn't where Ms. Marie was, so it is possible that he didn't hear it," Carrie stated, sipping her tea.

"Mr. Wright, it is possible, I'm afraid," the Judge nodded, slamming his gavel, "I have to overrule your objection."

Phoenix sighed at his bad luck, _Alex was right, I can't underestimate her. So, what else about this testimony stands out? I mean, I thought he would have heard the bullet like Jenna… wait, how did he even know she was there?_

"Hold it!" Phoenix shouted, "You said you saw Ms. Marie on the road 'earlier', right?"

"Yes, I did, why?" Slade asked.

"How did you know Ms. Marie was there, since you said you were out on the trail all morning? How could you have seen her?" Phoenix asked, causing Slade to sweat.

Just then the area went black, a series of chains on locks appeared around Slade. A total of three familiar red locks appeared, sealing the chains in place. Phoenix narrowed his eyes. _What kind of secret are you hiding, Mr. Quarry?_

"I um, saw her when I came down of course. After the police came, to take that man away," Slade explained, crossing his arms.

"That would make sense," Phoenix grinned, "However, you contradicted yourself just now."

"I did?" Slade asked.

"He did?" The Judge and Carrie asked.

"He did," Phoenix nodded, beginning to explain his reasoning. "You said earlier in your testimony that you saw Ms. Marie when the body landed near her, but now you just said that you saw her after the defendant was taken away! So, which lie is it?"

"Guh," Slade gasped as one of his Psyche Locks shattered, "I um, well—"

"Objection!" Carrie shouted. "Mr. Wright, that can be easily explained; he could have saw Ms. Marie from the trail. He was probably bewitched by that dazzling façade she wears to entrance her followers—a mask of beauty and submission!"

_That's laying it on a bit thick, _Phoenix thought.

"Wait… she wears a beauty mask?" the Judge frowned, causing Phoenix to sigh heavily.

"No, Your Honor, she meant he probably thought Ms. Marie was pretty," Phoenix explained.

"Only to your point of view, Mr. Wright," Carrie scoffed. She obviously did not like Jenna.

"Wait… what did you say, Ms. Stone? Did you say point of view?" Phoenix asked, an idea forming in his head.

"Yes I did," Carrie answered, curiously examining Phoenix's look of realization.

"Your Honor, I've figured it out!" Phoenix grinned triumphantly. "I know where Mr. Slade Quarry really was!"

The courtroom burst into commentary as Phoenix pulled out the trail map. "Right here is the path. Ms. Stone claims he could have seen Ms. Marie from here. But that's impossible, due to this rocky wall blocking the way."

"W-well, then where was he, tough guy?" Carrie spat, her anger growing.

"Well, there is only one spot where he could see the victim and Ms. Marie, and that's on the ledge across from Highlander's Cliff!" Phoenix announced. "Look; from right here he could see the victim, as well as Ms. Marie!"

"Well, yes he could, but what would this point of view change?" Carrie asked, her arms crossed and glaring at Phoenix.

"Everything," Phoenix answered, "This is where he could shoot the victim while he was talking to whoever had called him there."

"Wait what!" Carrie yelped, "Did you say where he could shoot the victim?! You're not saying—"

"That Slade Quarry is a killer?" Phoenix finished. "Yes I am—Slade Quarry murdered Lucas Bryan!"

The sound of a Psyche Lock shattering mixed with the mutters of the courtroom.

"Order! Mr. Wright, these are serious accusations!" the Judge gasped. "Are you sure you know what you're doing? There hasn't been much of anything new discovered in this case…"

_That's true—but that evidence was crucial._

"I'm sure, Your Honor," Phoenix answered, which caused Ms. Stone to interrupt him.

"Objection! Mr. Wright is making a wild claim off of baseless statements—can you prove he was on the ledge that day? Can you?!" Carrie growled, her anger reaching a peak of dangerous levels.

"I can," Phoenix stated. "I can also prove he is the killer. If I remember correctly, the autopsy report says that the bullet found could not be identified by ballistic markings, but they did say that the bullet belonged to a type of rifle used for hunting."

"Yes, that is correct," Carrie frowned, "But what are you insinuating?"

"If you also remember, Mr. Quarry was also hunting that day. If you hunt you would, naturally, bring a hunting rifle, wouldn't you?" Phoenix explained, pulling out a piece of evidence, "This is the rifle that Mr. Quarry used on the day of the crime, the bullets used for this rifle… are of the same caliber found in Mr. Bryan's body!"

"Ahhhh!" Carrie shrieked, causing her tea to spill on the desk again, which also added more chaos to murmuring court.

"Order!" The Judge called, slamming his gavel, "Mr. Wright, you have presented solid evidence, if what you say is true… then Mr. Quarry did kill the victim!"

"Hold it!" Slade yelled. "You forgot one thing, Mr. Wright: it's true, that is my rifle—and yes, I did bring it with me, but can you prove I even used it?"

Phoenix raised an eyebrow, but he didn't respond at first. Thinking that he was winning, Slade grinned, "Can you or can't you? I don't think you do have any evidence at all."

"Oh no I do," Phoenix smirked, causing Slade's grin to fade, "I just wanted to make sure you brought this subject up, and now that you did I can present this piece of evidence."

Phoenix pulled out a small bag that held a series of long, thin bullets. "You brought this with you, right? You said that these are the bullets used for the rifle you brought with you, now if I compare it with the bullet retrieved from Mr. Bryan's body, I can see they are exactly the same."

Phoenix pulled out the bullet from Mr. Bryan's body and held it up to the court; sure enough, both bullets were identical to each other. Carrie gasped, the Judge looked flabbergasted, Slade's final lock shattered, and the truth was out.

* * *

March 2nd, 12:30 PM

District Courthouse

Defendant's Lobby

Doyle watched Phoenix from the TV in the lobby and grinned: he knew he picked the right guy for the job. He was confident and resourceful—he truly had the skill a lawyer needed, but it was also coupled with a rare trait in these days: a strong sense of justice. Maya smiled at her husband. He had done it again. The evidence he presented proved Cody's innocence like he'd promised. Alex, watching the broadcast in a different room, smiled a little. He was happy for Phoenix, but Alex's gaze was more focused on the woman at the prosecution's bench. He never thought he would see her again—but now that he had, it only made things worse. He knew he couldn't be with her, and she probably had moved on. But she still had the necklace, didn't she?

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard Doyle yell out. Alex turned around and saw Doyle clutching his head; he was shivering and twitching slightly.

"Doyle!" Alex called sharply, running over to him, "What's going on? Doyle!"

Finally he stopped twitching and opened his eyes: they were full of fear and panic as he stood up.

"We gotta get in the courtroom, now!" Doyle yelled, trying to get to the courtroom doors. Instead his legs began to collapse beneath him and he fell over, as if he no longer had any energy left to move.

"What do you mean?" Maya asked, "What's happening?"

"I had a vision," Doyle coughed, "Cody's going to die!"

* * *

March 2nd, 12:39 PM

District Courthouse

Courtroom number 2

"Mr. Quarry, did you shoot Mr. Bryan?" the Judge asked, his voice unnaturally loud throughout the courtroom.

Slade paused for a moment, considering his options, but then he grinned evilly and said, "Yes, I did."

"Why did you shoot him?" Phoenix asked. "Who was he meeting with?"

"Wouldn't you like to know," Slade laughed. "I'm sorry about this, Mr. Wright, but I can't have Mr. Hawk leave this courtroom a free man."

"You lost!" Phoenix yelled, his pulse pounding—something wasn't right here. "You already admitted it and the evidence has proven your guilt!"

"Oh, I didn't mean he had to leave in chains," Slade clarified. "I meant that Mr. Hawk can't leave this room at all." Slade gave a dark grin as he reached in his jacket, pulled out a pistol and aimed it at Cody.

"So sorry, Mr. Hawk." Slade grinned. The bailiffs were running towards him, but Phoenix could tell they wouldn't make it in time.

"Cody!" a voice called from the stands, and Jenna rushed in front of him just as the bullet left the gun's chamber.

The crowd gasped as Jenna cried out in pain, the bullet piercing her body, tearing through tissue and vessels. She leaned backwards and fell into Cody's arms, blood blossoming under her shirt.

"Jenna!" Cody yelled, sounding as if he, too, had been shot.

"Damn," Slade cursed. He fired off a quick shot at the nearest bailiff, who was close to grabbing him. Slade then aimed steadily at Cody, not seeming to care about the other guard, who was farther away—Slade knew he had time. The double doors burst open, a silver crescent hissed through the air, and Slade screamed snake-like in pain at the throwing knife embedded in his forearm. The gun fell from his hand and clattered on the floor.

Alex, framed by the doorway, pulled back his now-empty outstretched hand and rushed toward the witness stand. Slade turned and ran, smashing the one remaining guard in the face as the man tried to apprehend him. Slade fled out of the courtroom via a side door and sped down the hallway.

Phoenix had been knocked over in the panic—he had seen Pearl run past him out of the courtroom, screaming "Mystic Maya!!"—and felt like he was laying on jigsaw pieces. He wasn't far off: they were pieces, sure enough… of his Magatama. It was shattered, and the glow had left it.

"I'll get him!" Doyle yelled, brushing past Alex and following the deranged killer.

Alex took in the scene with practiced efficiency: two things were important here, and they were the bailiff and Cody. He could tell what had happened to the bailiff from a distance, but Jenna's wound wasn't easy to see from where he was. He ran over to them: Cody was holding Jenna in his arms, and Alex knelt beside them.

"She… she tried to save me," Cody choked, "And he… he shot her…"

Alex knew there was no time to waste, he yelled at the uninjured bailiff to bring him a first-aid kit, and then turned to Phoenix.

"Call the hospital: tell them we have a medical emergency and we need two ambulances!" Alex commanded. Phoenix complied swiftly and raised his cell phone to his ear. He glanced at Alex, who understood: it would help the staff at the hospital to have information about the injuries.

"The bailiff was shot in the abdomen and from the amount of blood I'd say he the round hit his spleen. And Jenna—" He looked down at her and his face darkened. She burbled incoherently, her eyes glassy. Pink foam was rising from her mouth.

"Phoenix!" Alex called.

"Please hold on, I'm getting some more information," Phoenix said quickly to the dispatcher.

"Her lung's been punctured!" Alex yelled to him, and with this dark announcement, time seemed to slow down for those involved.

Phoenix snapped himself into action, but he appeared, to his own eyes, to be moving as if through water. His mind screamed at his body to move to tell the dispatcher everything RIGHT NOW RIGHT NOW RIGHT NOW, but found that adrenalin wouldn't make his body work faster than it already had. He started talking to the person on the other end, but his voice sounded tiny and far-away.

For Cody, things were almost frozen. He looked at Alex in shock, and then at Jenna. Alex saw him freezing up and, so slowly that Cody was able to see every little detail of Alex's motions, stretched out his arms and knocked him aside. Time sped back up.

Hastily, Alex tore Jenna's shirt off of her, then folded it carefully, cursing. He slammed the bundle of cloth down on her chest, making her gasp. Something cracked.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Cody exclaimed. "You're hurting her!"

"I may have just broken one of her ribs, Cody," he explained. "But that doesn't matter. Her lungs are filling with blood, and she's trying to take in air but she's failing miserably. If I don't seal the wound _as tightly as I can,_ then her chances aren't very good."

"Hold on, Jenna," Alex whispered with determination, as he turned back to the girl lying on the floor. "You're not dying today."

* * *

Doyle had chased the man down the hall and followed him outside; Slade was running across the street as Doyle exited the building. 

"Stop him!" Doyle yelled out, but as he said that something surprising happened.

Slade stopped suddenly, a strange glow surrounding him. He pointed his hand at a parked prison van, then closed his eyes and moved his hand in Doyle's direction. The van suddenly flew from its place and lunged towards Doyle, who leapt out of the way in the nick of time—thankfully; his demonic senses had been on the rise ever since bursting into the courtroom. The vehicle smashed into the side of the courtroom.

Doyle stared at the van in shock and then back at Slade, who was no longer there. Doyle replayed the events of the past minute over in his head: he recognized the aura around the man. He thought about why it felt so familiar to him, and then he realized exactly where he'd seen that sort of aura before. He stared out into space in stunned silence as Phoenix ran up behind him.

"Medics are on their way," Phoenix informed him. "Hopefully Jenna will hold out before… Doyle, what's wrong? What the hell happened out here? There's a prison van crumpled against a brick wall!"

Doyle looked at him and stuttered, "P-Phoenix… Slade, he's… he's a joined-spirit!"

To be continued

* * *

Yep, I did it again. The next part will definitely be the final part—definitely. 

Oh and the medical scene above was the genius of **Nick Wright**, give him a hand everyone.


	7. Guardians of Turnabout: pt6 final part

Disclaimer: Ughh, I'm getting tired of this: I don't own PW. Or Alex's Main Theme, which will play during credits.

Yeah, yeah, I'm months late. Now normally I'd say 'I don't wanna hear it', but all of you have been so patient for these updates. Thank you, really, it means a lot that no one will harass me for updates. Anyway, on to reviews:

Count X. Gamlxltoe Nightmare: Oh for god sakes put your hand back on, if your hand is off you'll never make it as a writer… I mean look at it, ew.

Theres.Beauty.In.The.Breakdown: Intense indeed.

sonicandlink: Ahh, running for no reason. I'm cool with that, just like I respond to reviews here for no reason… hey wait a minute…

Faermage–KH Junkie: …Oh yeah you're right my bad, thanks for catching it. Heheh, I hoped I surprised everyone with the joined-spirit bit.

Shadow Bladewolf: Um, Chessmaster troupe?

Mentality at its Worst: Wow, I left you speechless, awesome! I'll pass the message on to Alex for you… but that would totally shift the plot so poor Alex will have to wait.

Quick warning: This chapter gets a little supernatural, I'd thought I'd add this just in case people don't want to read supernatural bits.

Dean: What's wrong with us?!

Me: Not the show, Dean. Not the awesome show Supernatural—I meant it in the sense of "things that are not what we'd consider normal or possible".

Dean: Ohhhhhhh, then please continue.

Me: All right, let's get started!

* * *

"… **And, in other news, a startling event transpired in the trial of defense attorney Cody Hawk."**

"**If what I heard is correct, there was a shooting in the courtroom—right, Bobbo?"**

"**Quite correct, Perry… and the shooter was the witness for the prosecution! According to the police and hospital staff there was two injures, a court bailiff and the second witness from the prosecution."**

"**Yes, and from what I heard her condition is critical, and she's under constant police protection."**

"**Yeah, oh, we should let our viewers know: the shooter in question, a man named Slade Quarry, is currently on the run. If you see anyone resembling this picture, please call our 'Crimebusters' hotline, located at the bottom of the screen."**

"**Hopefully the police will have him in custody soon, and our hopes go to the two injured. We'll have more information for our viewers as the situation unfolds."**

* * *

Guardians of Turnabout,

Part 6,

Dreams of Absolution,

* * *

March 2nd, 9:00pm

Hotti Clinic

"We were able to remove the bullet—however, we're not sure how she'll hold up," the doctor confessed, checking his medical charts. "She was very badly injured, after all, and not only that, but her ribs tore a slight hole in the lung. We patched it up, but, well… If she can make it through the night then we've done all we can. The rest lies with her."

Phoenix nodded, gazing out into the patient's room to see Cody sitting in the chair next to a bed. Jenna, of course, was the bed's occupant. She looked so strange with all of the wires and beeping electronics surrounding her lifeless-looking form. The police had allowed Cody's release from prison, mostly because he refused to leave her side on the ride to the hospital. They were able to obtain his release mainly thanks to the persuasion of Ms. Stone (who took charge of the situation and ordered the papers to be signed). While not officially cleared of charges, Cody was allowed a certain amount of freedom as long as he was watched by an officer.

Phoenix and the others had arrived at the hospital moments later, where the defense attorney had explained Doyle's shocking revelation to the group. After returning from his conversation with the doctor, Phoenix found the other conversation in full swing.

"Joined-spirits," Maya sighed. "I never dreamed I'd hear that term again."

"Aren't joined-spirits dangerous?" Doyle asked, "Most of the 'couplings' end in death for the living partner, right?"

"Yes," Phoenix answered, folding his arms and closing his eyes, inwardly grieving. "Nearly all of the joined-spirits end in death for the 'host', mostly because the power the joined-spirit offers is way too much for a human body to handle. There aren't any known survivors of the process."

"Except you," Alex interrupted bitterly. "You and Leo were the first to survive… or at least, until Leo faded away for saving you."

Maya and Pearl shifted uncomfortably. Trucy was confused, as she had no idea what they were talking about. Doyle tensed up slightly and looked back and forth between the two, and Phoenix just lowered his head and looked at the floor.

"You think…" Phoenix began. He paused, and his hands, now by his side in fists, were shaking. "You're saying I didn't try?"

Phoenix looked back up, his face a mixture of sorrow, shock, and pain. "I don't know where you think you get the nerve, but…"

He stopped, emotion choking him. He remembered the words that he had engraved onto Leo's tombstone. (_Here lies a man, a good friend and a valuable son. He taught me to live._)

"He was a son to me," Phoenix said quietly, so softly that only Alex and Maya heard him.

Alex said nothing and Phoenix went on, "I didn't want him to go like that; fading from existence as if he was just a forgotten memory. Let me tell you something: I haven't forgotten. Do you think a single _day_ goes by without remembering his face? His last words to me? I wouldn't have ever—"

"I KNOW!" Alex shouted, causing everyone to jump back, "I know that! I wasn't blaming you! I was blaming _me_! I should be dead! He didn't deserve it! He never could have deserved it even if he tried! But me? I'm just so DAMN PATHETIC that I can't even save the people I love! What kind of a brother does that make me, huh?"

Phoenix's emotional storm calmed slightly, but he didn't say anything else, and before any other member of their party could either, the elevator doors opened and three people stepped out. The people in question were Gumshoe, Ema, and Carrie. Phoenix was a bit surprised to see the prosecutor there, and he felt it show on his face. She didn't seem to notice. The three walked over to join the others, and questions were flung rapidly at Phoenix.

"I heard about what happened, are you guys okay?"

"You guys aren't hurt, are you, pal?"

"How's the witness—er, Ms. Marie?"

"Daddy, can I jump on the couch?"

"Okay, whoa, hold on!" Phoenix interrupted, and first pointed at Ema. "We're okay, we're unharmed."

Next he pointed at Gumshoe. "See previous answer."

Then Carrie: "Critical condition, if she makes it through the night she should be in the clear."

And lastly, "No, Trucy, you cannot jump on the couch."

Trucy huffed and sat down on the aforementioned furniture, her pink hat nearly flying off her head with the force of her action.

"Well, we have another matter to worry about—Slade," Doyle frowned. "He was able to get away, and he's still out there."

"We have policemen looking for him right now," Ema said. "It shouldn't be too long before they catch him, right?"

"Normally, yes," Alex nodded, "However, Slade is… a gifted person. Catching him, and then taking him to prison, will be difficult."

"Then how will we catch him?" Ema asked.

Alex didn't have an answer, and Doyle pounded his fist on the wall in frustration. "Damn! I was right there! I should have caught him!"

"Hey, don't worry about it," Ema frowned. "If you did what you could, it's not your fault."

Doyle flinched at that, but he didn't say anything else. Then an elevator—opposite the one used by the three new arrivals—opened and a tired-looking Cody emerged (he'd been chased out of the room by a gaggle of stern nurses).

"Hey, what did the doc say?" Cody asked, looking at the group.

Phoenix took a deep breath and told him what the doctor had said, and he felt like his insides were being twisted into ugly knots as he watched Cody's look become dark and blank. Once Phoenix got to the good part, however, some hope returned to his client's eyes—but not enough to repel all of the darkness.

"He was trying to kill me," Cody murmured, "Me… not her, why did she… why did she try to save me? I'm not worth it—I'm not worth anything."

"To her, you're worth more than her own life," Alex said, lowering his head, "When you care about someone, you'll do anything to protect them, even throw away the one life you have…"

"Yeah, I know," Maya sighed, and Phoenix's mind flashed to the events that had taken place in a small temple on a mountain….

The unpleasant reminiscence was interrupted when a beeping emanated from the pagers of both Ema and Gumshoe. They simultaneously pulled out the devices, frowning identically in thought.

"They've found him—Slade, I mean," Gumshoe stated, pulling out his cell phone and dialing a number. When he was finished he put the receiver to his ear. "What have you got?"

There was a small exchange of nods (which seemed superfluous to Phoenix) and then a "yes". Finally the detective closed his phone and looked at the group.

"He's in a hunting lodge out on Highlander's Cliff."

"Again?" Doyle asked, raising an eyebrow. "Why would he go back there?"

"I don't know, pal." Gumshoe frowned. "But we've got him—oh, and Ms. Stone, ma'am, Chief Jones wants you there. He said something about 'you get Ms. Stone over here and have her face her responsibility.'"

Carrie's jaw was set as she nodded stiffly. "Fine…"

She stood up and followed Ema and Gumshoe into the elevator, disappearing from view. When they did, Alex unfolded his arms and walked towards an elevator right beside it. He pressed the button and waited for the doors to open up.

"Alex, what are you doing?" Doyle asked, walking over to the elevator.

"I'm going after Slade," Alex stated bluntly, stepping inside the elevator. Doyle followed.

"I failed to stop him earlier today," he continued, ignoring Doyle's sharp gaze, "but I won't let him get away now."

"The police are already after him," Doyle countered. "They know where he is. They'll stop him."

"No, they _would_ stop him—would, if it wasn't for two problems." Alex began to explain as he stepped outside the elevator and into the ground floor lobby. "One: Geoff Jones is there, and we both know he works for a certain group that wants Cody dead. There is no way Geoff is going to let the police have him."

The two of them had stepped outside, and then walked behind the clinic, where Alex had parked his car safely from prying eyes. He popped open the trunk of his car to reveal a small and highly illegal stash of throwing knives, wrist blades, and the dual katana he had forged.

"Secondly," Alex smirked, as he strapped a pair of wrist blades on, "Slade is a joined-spirit, and since I have a power of my own, logically, I would stand a better chance right?"

"In fact," he said, the smirk dying away, "I'd stand the only chance, compared to them."

Doyle nodded and reached into Alex's trunk, borrowing some throwing knives. Alex looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"What are you doing?" he asked, watching Doyle tuck the blades snugly into his belt—which, Alex now noticed, had loops made especially for that purpose.

"I'm coming along," Doyle answered. "The two of us would be better than just you."

"But, you could—" Alex began, only to get cut off by Doyle's significant throat-clearing.

"I'm a half demon, remember?" He frowned. "I'm also not exactly a novice when it comes to fighting."

Alex paused for a minute, but then he broke into a grin and slid into the front seat of his car. "Get in. We have work to do."

* * *

March 2nd, 10:30pm,

Highlander's Cliff,

Hunting Lodge,

By the time Carrie, Gumshoe, and Ema arrived, police cars were positioned outside the two-level lodge. Geoff Jones was at the front of the line: he seemed to be talking to someone on his cell and didn't notice the three of them arrive until an officer tapped Geoff's shoulder. He turned in their direction and scoffed, closing his phone and walking over to them.

"Finally," Geoff began, clearing displaying his annoyance. "Your witness is currently on the second floor of the lodge, right there."

Geoff tilted his head toward the second floor window as the searchlights from the vehicles next to them passed over it. The distinct shape of a human was noticeable in the light.

"Okay, sir, when do we go in?" Gumshoe asked.

"We don't," Geoff replied, reopening his phone and dialing a number. "We're going to wait until backup arrives."

"Backup?" Ema repeated, confused at Geoff's decision. "But sir, wouldn't it be better if we just went in now? We certainly have enough men to apprehend him."

"Oh, really?" Geoff turned to Ema, annoyed. "Why don't you tell that to the three _armed_ officers he just killed?"

"Huh? What?" Carrie gasped, looking over at the paramedics, who, they all saw, were lifting a gurney over to the ambulance.

"And that," Geoff concluded, "is why I'm waiting for backup."

He stalked off, apparently to talk to the paramedics. When the three newcomers turned away, Geoff took out his cell and dialed the number.

"Slade, your ri—who do you _think _it is, idiot? Now listen. Your ride is out behind the lodge. Hurry up and report to the Superior. I'll try to stall until backup arrives. Don't fail us again—if you get caught, you know what will happen."

* * *

Inside the lodge,

"Yes sir," Slade answered, turning off his cell phone and looking out the window to the police cars, his gun glinting against the glare from the headlights.

He waited for a minute, weighing his options, and then he dashed across the room towards the door. He planned on using the doors that led outside to get to the woods—and his free ride out of this dump of a city. He was about to make it to the door when something flew past his ear and embedded itself to the wall, thudding ominously. Slade ducked instinctively and whirled around, gun pointed at—he didn't know what, but it was better than sticking it in his pocket. When no response was forthcoming, he cautiously jerked his head to the left long enough to see exactly what projectile he had almost become personal friends with. It was a throwing knife—the same make of knife that had injured his hand at court.

"Hello, Slade," a voice greeted him dryly. "Do you remember Jenna Marie?"

Another throwing knife from the darkness—but Slade dodged it and squeezed off three shots. Alex threw himself to the floor just before a bullet cracked against the wall where his head had been.

He staggered to his feet and unsheathed his sword. Alex was dressed in black, but the blades were metallic, and the two tips of his dual katana glimmered in the small amount of light streaming through the window. No point in hiding anymore.

He sprinted towards Slade, seemingly unaware of the man's gun, which was raised, trigger almost fully depressed—confidence at its most outrageous. He was validated in his carelessness; however, as a large demonic form slammed into Slade, knocking the gun across the room—Alex had distracted him long enough for Doyle to sneak up. Alex relaxed slightly. He was sure Slade wouldn't emerge the victor in any battle with a demonic power.

This theory was proven slightly unstable when Slade blasted Doyle to the far side of the room with a bright blaze of telekinetic energy. The impact sent Doyle through the wall, burying him in a pile of wood and sheetrock and knocking him unconscious.

Alex lunged at him with his sword, but Slade dodged easily and knocked him aside with a blow to the head. Slade started towards his gun, but Alex kicked out furiously with his feet and, luck on his side, connected with the back of Slade's knee, catching him off guard. Slade collapsed to the ground, and they both got up simultaneously. Slade loosed another bolt of telekinetic power, which clutched Alex's sword and threw it through the hole Doyle had made earlier.

Slade shouted something unintelligible, pointing his hand at the gun. It flew back towards him and he aimed at Alex.

But just then the window next to Slade shattered and a bright blue bolt slammed into Slade's hand and smashed the gun into the wall. Slade cried out as electricity shot up his arm, crawling hungrily towards his heart before vanishing almost as quickly as it had arrived. Alex looked at his window and saw someone out in the distance, a blue light on its hands. The form vanished into the darkness and Alex, despite every instinct telling him to run, stared intently out of the window, trying to find the figure. Slade, who had fallen to the floor, slowly picked up a long, sharp shard of glass from the windowpane and then, springing into life, headed for Alex.

Doyle had been watching from the shadows as he struggled to loosen his makeshift prison, and the sight of Slade headed for Alex proved enough to tap his reserves of energy. He leapt out of the rubble and sprinted towards Slade, slamming him into the wall and knocking him unconscious.

Alex snapped out of his trance and surveyed the scene.

"Thanks," Alex said to Doyle.

"No problem," he replied, reverting to human form. "We better get out of here—I can see the SWAT team arriving."

Alex peered out the window and saw armored vans drive up from the path. His attention was caught by the person standing next to Gumshoe and Ema, her red-topped head practically a beacon for his eyes. He watched her for what seemed like eternity pressed into a second, then turned away and followed Doyle out of the room.

* * *

Outside the lodge,

Carrie held her breath as SWAT units burst into the building, swarming through the lodge like rodents in the sewers. The tension was bone-crushingly thick. Finally one of the SWAT members came out and addressed the officers.

"We found Mr. Quarry. He's up on the second floor!" The officer shouted, walking back inside.

Geoff walked inside the building and disappeared from view. Gumshoe paused for a minute and walked in after him. Ema and Carrie looked at each other nervously and ran after him.

The group made their way to the second floor, where they were met with an unusual scene.

The room was in an unnatural disarray, and an entire section of one of the walls seemed to be missing—the window, too, was not in its proper place (or, indeed, still intact). Carrie noticed something shiny glinting significantly at her and she saw what appeared to be a knife embedded into the wall.

Geoff was on the far side of the room, standing over what appeared to be Slade's unconscious body as paramedics lifted him onto a gurney.

"It looks like a fight or something happened here sir," Gumshoe said, walking over to Geoff.

"Yes… yes it does," Geoff murmured, looking at the scene thoughtfully.

"Do you have any idea who did this?" Gumshoe asked tentatively, watching Geoff examine the crime scene.

"A few…" He murmured, evidentially he was talking to himself and not really listening to Gumshoe.

Finally he looked at Gumshoe and said, "However, we've got enough to deal with right now. Let me think this over—it's possible he was in a fight with a colleague, which is not good news for us. Let me think about this for a minute."

Gumshoe nodded and he walked back down the stairs. Geoff paused for a minute before turning to one of his loyal officers and saying, "I believe Mr. Quarry will not make it to the hospital in time… don't you?"

The officer nodded and left the room. Geoff watched him exit before pulling out his cell phone and dialing a number.

"This is Geoff. We have a problem. There are new players on the field—and _he's_ been here…"

* * *

Unknown Location

"… I see. Thank you, Mr. Jones," a man said, hanging up the phone and turning to the person behind him.

"Sir, Mr. Jones has a report on Slade Quarry," the man explained. "His position has been compromised, and it's believed that Threat number 002 has been sighted."

A man sitting in an office chair listened patiently, hands resting under his chin, looking deep in thought.

"Have Mr. Jones put out a bulletin, and alert the media, too," the man in the chair ordered. "He shouldn't be hard to find if everyone is looking for him."

"Yes, Superior," The other man said and left the room.

The Superior turned his chair to face a balcony window that overlooked the city. After a moment, he stood up and stared outside onto the lively city below as if it was a stage, and he was the director.

"You've gotten yourself mixed up in something beyond your understanding, Mr. Wright," the Superior murmured. "Your knowledge is of courtrooms and criminals, my knowledge is of power itself."

A cup of water hovered from the table and into his hands. He sipped it casually and grinned.

"Mr. Wright, you don't stand a chance."

* * *

March 3rd, 6:30am

Wright and Co. Law Offices

Phoenix paced in the waiting room of his office, thinking about their most recent case and worrying about Jenna Marie, who had been scheduled for surgery today. Maya had told him to go to the hospital, but Phoenix felt like that would be intruding. Just then the buzzer rang and Maya opened the door to see—

"Cody!" Maya squealed, and indeed it was. Phoenix noticed that Cody looked much less dirty and ruffled, but he was considerably wearier.

"Um, I, er… May I come in?" he asked, gazing down at the floor with a hand at the back of his neck.

Maya blinked, surprised at his manner, before answering, "Sure, please come in."

Cody walked inside and sat down on the couch. He took a deep breath and said, "Jenna… made it through, but the doctors are keeping her in the hospital for a while before they let her out. Thankfully, though, they said they're pretty much sure she'll be fine."

Phoenix sighed in relief and he saw Maya relax too; she got up and went over to the coffee machine.

"Coffee?" Maya asked, holding out a cup.

"No, thank you. I actually… um, I want to ask you something, Phoenix," Cody began, nervously adjusting his tie.

"Yes, what is it?" Phoenix asked, wondering why Cody was so nervous. Meekness wasn't something he'd though Cody would ever be afflicted with.

"Well, with me being cleared of all charges… and having no work, I've been recommended to… seek employment here?" Cody laughed weakly.

"Work here?" Phoenix repeated.

"Recommended?" Maya asked. "Who recommended you?"

Before Cody could answer, someone spoke up. "I did."

Phoenix and Maya turned to the doorway and saw Doyle standing there. He looked tired and worn.

"I thought it may be best if Mr. Hawk were to work with us on this," Doyle explained, walking inside the room. "You can't call this place a law _firm _if you're the sole lawyer here—plus, we could use the extra help."

"You want me to hire him?" Phoenix asked, glancing between Cody and Doyle.

"It's purely your decision," Doyle said reassuringly, "but if you want to stop people like Geoff Jones from having their way with the law, then Mr. Hawk may be able to help."

Phoenix wasn't fully convinced, and he leaned against the wall, thinking about the idea. Another voice broke the silence.

"Slade Quarry is dead."

That caught Phoenix's attention immediately, and he turned to the visitor in the doorway. Alex Lionheart stood there, his hands in his trenchcoat and a sour look on his face.

"Miles just told me this morning. Slade Quarry was found dead at the side of the road. The ambulance he was in slipped off the side of the road and fell into a ditch."

"You don't think…" Phoenix began, but Alex's nod confirmed it. "Geoff Jones killed him?!"

"Or had him killed anyway," Alex shrugged, walking inside.

"Is this coffee fresh?" he asked Maya, pointing to the coffeemaker.

"Huh?!" Phoenix stuttered, as Alex poured himself a cup of coffee.

"Thanks," Alex said, raising the cup in an informal salute. "Anyway, I agree with Doyle. I think Cody can help," he commented, sipping his coffee thoughtfully.

"I can!" Cody said earnestly. "I want to, besides… I have something I need to protect, and working with you is the best way to protect it."

Phoenix's poker face covered up his internal grin. _So he does love Jenna after all, _he thought as he looked at Cody.

"I… have some things to protect too," Phoenix said, sharing a glance with Maya. "I don't want them to be hurt either. So yes, I will hire you. You start at Monday, eight o'clock."

Cody nodded, standing up and shaking Phoenix's hand. "Yes, thank you Phoenix—er, Mr. Wright."

"It's just Phoenix, thank you," Phoenix mumbled, shaking his hand as well.

"Oh come on Nick, lighten up," Maya smiled. "You can call him Nick, Cody."

"Nick? Um, okay, sure… I'll see you tomorrow, Nick," Cody said, grinning slightly.

"…Let's just stick with Phoenix, okay?" Phoenix said. He wasn't used to being someone's boss, and he fought to keep a stern expression on his face while also attempting to ignore the giggles from his wife.

"Have you got room for another?" Doyle asked. "You're going to need help finding clients who are being targeted—and my power can help you."

"Okay," Phoenix nodded. "Welcome aboard, Doyle."

"What about you, Alex?" Maya asked hesitantly.

Alex paused and turned for the door, looking back at the group as he said, "I'll be around. The demon and I are a good team, so—put me on the roster. Just don't expect me to wear a suit and tie."

Without another word he walked off, leaving the group in a short silence. Which was broken when Phoenix yelped, "Wait a minute… did he say demon?"

Doyle grinned sheepishly. "Only _half_ demon."

"What the HELL?!" yelled Phoenix, which was seconded fervently by his new employee.

* * *

Alex grinned when he heard the shouting from the hallway. He stepped outside and walked down the streets for a few blocks until he approached an alleyway. He stopped and looked at the rising sun and sighed, _there's another reason why I'm doing this too, _Alex thought. _I have something to protect as well._

He stared at the sunrise for a while, then turned down the alley and walked through it. Walking away from the light, he thought, to begin the battle against the darkness.

**Guardians of Turnabout**

**The End**

_

* * *

_

In the night light  
_Do you see what you dream?  
__All your troubles  
__Are they all what they seem?  
__Look around you  
__Then you may realize  
__All the preachers  
__All with their lies_

_And I might know of our future  
__But then you still control our past  
__Only you know if you'll be together  
__Only you know if we shall last_

Credits for **Guardians of Turnabout.**

Turnabout 1 plot by: Michael Fri (Black Scepter), Jessica (Mentality at its Worst), Volkmar 'Gamlxltoe' Von Lichtenstein (Count X. Gamlxltoe Nightmare), and Matt Fri (Black Scepter).

Writer(s): Michael Fri (Black Scepter)

Editor/Beta Reader: Nick Wright

_In the night light  
__Do you still feel your pain?  
__For the valor  
__You wait; it never came  
__If you were able  
__Would you go change the past?  
__To mend a faux pas  
__With one last chance_

_And I might know of our future  
__But then you still control the past  
__Only you know if you'll be together tonight_

Characters in the story (so far…)

Phoenix Wright: James Marsden (Cyclops, X-men 1-3).

Alex Lionheart: David Borenaz(Squall Leonhart, Kingdom Hearts 1, Angel; Angel/Buffy the Vampire Slayer.)

Maya Fey: Tara Strong (Rikku, FFX and FFX-2, Raven; Teen Titans.)

Cody Hawk: Scott Menville (Lloyd Irving, Tales of Symphonia, Robin; Teen Titans.)

Allen Doyle: Glenn Quinn (Allen Doyle, Angel.) (And yes I know actor Glenn Quinn died in 2002, but there's no one I would want to be Doyle, than Doyle himself.)

Dick Gumshoe: Tim Allen (Doug, Wild Hogs, Buzz Lightyear; Toy Story 1&2.)

_Cause every night I will save your life  
__And every night I will be with you  
__Cause every night I still lay awake  
__And I dream of an absolution  
__Cause every night I will make it right  
__And every night I will come to you  
__But every night it just stays the same  
__In my dream of an absolution_

Ema Skye: Christy Carlson Romano (Yuffie, Kingdom Hearts 1/ FF7 Advent Children, Kim Possible; Kim Possible.)

Miles Edgeworth: Michael Rosembaum (Lex Luthor, Smallville.)

Pearl Fey: Adair Tishler (Molly, Heroes.)

Carrie Stone: Heather Graham (Molly Clock, Scrubs.)

Geoff Jones: Christian Kane (Lindsey, Angel.)

The Superior: Billy Zane (Ansem, Kingdom Hearts 1.)

_In the night light  
__Do you see what you dream?  
__All your triumph  
__And all you'll ever be?  
__Look around you  
__Then you may realize  
__Happiness lies  
__Trapped in misery_

_And who knows what of out future  
__We can all try to change the past  
__Only you know if you'll be together tonight_

Leo Lionheart, Alex Lionheart, and other original characters are the property of Michael Connor Fri of Black Scepter, unless otherwise indicated below.

Carrie Stone is owned by Mentality at its Worst

Cody Hawk is owned by Matt Wright Fri of Black Scepter

Gabriel Seraph is owned by Mark Angelus Fri of Black Scepter

_Cause every night I will save your life  
__And every night I will be with you  
__Cause every night I still lay awake  
__And I dream of an absolution  
__Cause every night I will make it right  
__And every night I will come to you  
__But every night it just stays the same  
__In my dream of an absolution  
_

_Cause every night I will save your life  
__And every night I will be with you  
__Cause every night I still lay awake  
__And I dream of an absolution  
__Cause every night I will make it right  
__And every night I will come to you  
__But every night it just stays the same  
__In my dream of an absolution_

Phoenix Wright and all related characters are owned by Capcom.

_And you'll see  
__What you'll be  
__And you'll see  
__All you can be  
__Cause every night  
__And every night  
__And every night  
__I will dream!_

_And you'll see  
__(Yeah this is my dream!)  
__What you'll be  
__And you'll see  
__(And every night, I will always dream!)  
__All you can be  
__Cause every night  
__(Yeah)  
__And every night  
__And every night  
__(I will dream!)  
__I will dream!_

Alex Lionheart's main theme (Dreams of an Absolution) preformed by: Lee Brotherton (Remix Factory).

That's it. Turnabout 2 is in the works now. I can't say much without revealing it, but I can tell you the name.

**Turnabout Arcade**

See you then!


	8. Turnabout Arcade: pt1

Sorry bout the long wait, Beta Reader failed to respond so, this chapter has not been edited by Nick Wright, just by me.

Shadow Bladewolf: I really hope this one is worth the wait as well.

Count X. Gamlxltoe: Just two off from a perfect. Well, 2 and a half.

sonicandlink: Two left feet…

K.L Clarion: Thanks, hope you like this one too.

Faermage-KH Junkie: May not matter, but it does to me. I have the lyric book from the actual cd so, zero chance of messing it up.

Breaker deGodot: The three of us are glad, and another near perfect, I'm getting close…

Mentality at its Worst: The same thing really. And, you perceived something the author hasn't written…the mind of a pairing shipper.

Bladecutter25: Apollo? Oh yeah… I probably should be writing that…

Without further delay, let's read.

* * *

The lights flicker on as scheduled…

"_What do you mean it's gone?!"_

He pulls the switch and the sound of grainy 8 bit game music plays…

"_Be careful, there's more to this case than we believe."_

The people cheer… the people scream. A body falls straight for the giant video screen…

"_I can't forgive what he did, when I find him… I'll kill him."_

A brief moment of stunned silence as the body slams into the screen, bright flashes of light occur as the body is assaulted with electricity.

"_Congratulations Phoenix, you've caught the devil…"_

* * *

Turnabout Arcade pt1

The lucky winner

* * *

May 5th, 8:30pm,

Wright and CO. Law Offices

"Okay guys, I'm heading home," Phoenix announced, walking towards the office door and grabbing his coat. "Don't stay here too long."

"I'm nearly finished," Cody said as he wrote something on a document, pausing to ask Phoenix a question. "How much are we billing our last client?"

Phoenix thought about it for a second before sighed, "Bill him a 'Number 3'."

"Ahh, good old number 3," Cody chuckled, writing a sum on the bill request.

Maya had developed a way to bill clients by making a chart of sums, depending on how hard, how long, and how tiresome the trial was. There were 6 numbers: 1 and 2 were for the less fortunate of clients, 3 and 4 were your average everyday worker, 5 and 6 were for the clients who had money to spare (as you gather they don't get a lot of 5's and 6's). It was simple, and easy to follow.

Ever since the events of Cody's case two months ago, the firm of Wright and Co. Law Offices have been getting a good amount of clients, but nothing that involved Project Negation or the mysterious organization that were bent on finding it. And although the peace was enjoyable, it was only a matter of time before someone would make the first strike. And knowing this mysterious group, their strike would be hard and fast. Which is why they were prepared if such a situation happened.

"Actually Phoenix I need to stay in a bit," a voice called from the drawing room. "I may be on a lead to the whereabouts of Gabriel Seraph."

Doyle is the team's resident seer with a link to the elusive Powers That Be, a mysterious force that guides him to people who need help. He has also been charged with the task to stop Project Negation to be revealed, he sought out people that could help him in this task and became a member of Wright and Co. Law Offices. He has been spending his time trying to track down the last living man responsible for the project's unearthing: Gabriel Seraph. He hasn't had much luck doing so.

"Um… all right. Just don't forget to lock up," Phoenix advised, walking out of the door to the offices and heading to his car.

Doyle nodded and continued his research, when he said he may have had a lead he wasn't too sure if it would fly. The info he had was vague and a few months old, Mr. Seraph was skilled at keeping his tracks well covered. Luckily though, the last two months were quiet, no visions, which meant no one from the organization targeting people related to Negation. Cody had became a full member of Wright and CO., but he and Phoenix hadn't worked a case together yet, they usually ended up getting separate cases.

After an hour of working Doyle gave up and left the offices, locking the doors and getting into his car, he started down the road when his cell rang, he checked the caller ID and didn't recognize the number. He hesitantly opened the phone and spoke into it.

"Hello?"

"Hello Mr. Doyle," a voice spoke into it. "I understand you are also in search of Mr. Seraph and Project Negation."

"Who is this? And how do you know about Negation?" Doyle asked, wanting to get as much info on this guy as possible.

"A friend," the voice said, "Just be ready, for when the enemy strikes. I'll be there, helping you and your friends along the way…"

Then the person hung up, leaving Doyle confused, _who could be helping us?_ He opened his contact lists and pulled up Alex's number, he should probably hear this…

* * *

May 5th, 9:30pm,

Wright Residence

Alex parked the GTX outside Phoenix's house, he had to admit what he heard from Doyle was…concerning. Someone who knew about what they were doing, how could they trust this person? Doyle was going to call Phoenix but Alex said he would, he was heading there anyway because Maya called him about some emergency. He was about to knock on the door when he saw a pile of envelopes, including a bright purple one, they must have been left here. He picked them up and knocked twice on the door, then he heard a small voice call out.

"Who is it?"

"Alex Lionheart," he replied back, there was a small clinking noise and the door opened to little Trucy.

"Hiya Mr. Lionheart," she beamed. "Mommy and Daddy are in the kitchen."

Alex gave a small smile to the little girl and stepped in, and suddenly caught a strong whiff of…cookies? He paused at first and then realized what was going on in the kitchen, someone was baking cookies, and that someone was Maya. He paused on the outer entrance to the kitchen and smirked a bit at the sight: Phoenix and Trucy were gathered at the table along with Maya's cousin Pearl. Maya, whose hair was disheveled (probably from the baking heat) and there were trays of cookies everywhere.

"Is there some party I wasn't aware of?" Alex joked from the hall, "Did my invitation get lost in the mail?"

"Oh!" Maya jumped back, "You're here, good!"

He walked into the kitchen and set the envelopes on the table, walking by the small group by the table and sitting down.

"Yes I'm here, so, what's the big emergency?" Alex asked, his practiced eye scanned the room, and yet no one seemed to be distressed or anything…

"Oh yes," Maya nodded, walking over to pick up a plate of cookies, "I need you to taste test some cookies for me."

There was a long pause of silence in which Alex stared at the cookies, and then back at Maya with a disbelieving look on his face.

"You called me here to taste cookies? You said it was an emergency."

"It is! I can't find the perfect recipe of cookies!" she said in a pouty voice.

"How is this an emergency?" he asked.

"Because, my mother could show me how to knit and sew (although I still didn't exactly remember what she taught me…), and my grandma could recite the Law of the Spirits blindfolded. I want to be the mother who makes the best cookies, isn't that right Nick?" Maya asked Phoenix, who was still swallowing a cookie.

"Y-yes, and I'm sorry Maya but these aren't the 'flavor that melts into your mouth' kind," Phoenix said, "Hey, I liked the batch with the peanut butter melts, which ones were those?"

"That was batch 17, which was after batch 16: the one you upchucked after eating," Maya informed.

"Hey daddy, I think that's some of batch 17 over there," Trucy pointed.

"Thanks sweetie," Phoenix patted her on the head, he took a bite out of the cookie and smiled for awhile…before it turned into a frown and his eyes widened as he yelled, "BATCH 16! BATCH 16! CLEAR THE WAY, HERE COMES THE VOMIT!"

Phoenix promptly ran to the bathroom to upchuck once again, Maya examined the cookie he bit into and frowned. She turned to Trucy who was also confused.

"Trucy…was batch 16 the one I put tomatoes and toothpaste in?" Maya asked.

"I think so," Trucy agreed, taking a sniff of the cookie and frowning.

_Tomatoes and toothpaste?!_ Alex thought, deciding that trying her cookies would be hazardous to his new life and decided to avoid them. Instead he walked into the family room where the TV was on in, he picked up the remote and flipped through some of the channels. Finally he stopped on America's Most Wanted, he wanted to have a brief check who was on the wanted list this year.

"…His name is Volkmar Gamlxltoe, and we need your help to bring him to justice."

Alex gave a start, the wrenching feeling in his gut appeared as the photo of the man who was once his best friend appeared on the screen. It was an older photo though, probably taken before Ana's trial so many years back.

"Volkmar Gamlxltoe used to be a Private Investigator, before turned killer. His crime, the murder of a young lawyer—,"

"Leo," a voice finished from behind Alex.

Phoenix stood there, having just come out of the bathroom and stood there, hate reflected in his eyes as the silver haired man appeared on the screen. Not sticking around to hear the rest of the report Phoenix left the room, Alex decided to change the channel as well.

"…The Island of Arcades!"

Trucy and Pearl's heads appeared in the doorway, Pearl was a little timid of Alex but Trucy didn't mind him, she walked right in and plopped herself on the couch.

"The very first theme park for rides and arcades! The largest theme park built on a small island in the middle of Bowl Lake! Rides, games, food, and fun!" The announcer shouted, showing various pictures of people having fun. "So come on down to our Grand Opening tomorrow night for the time of your life!"

Alex was not a father, but even an ordinary man could recognize that shine in Trucy and Pearl's eyes, the way they looked at each other, and suddenly he felt very sorry for Phoenix.

"Daddy! Mommy!"

"Mr. Nick! Mystic Maya!"

Phoenix and Maya's heads appeared in the doorway, looking confused and a little alarmed at the sudden yelling. However one look at the theme park on the TV, and at the shine in the girl's eyes and they both looked at each other.

"No," Phoenix said immediately.

"What?!" Trucy yelped.

"Why not?!" Pearl asked.

"Because we don't have the time or money for such a thing, the ride there is at least 50 bucks, and that's just for Maya and me," Phoenix explained. "We just don't have the time, right Maya? Um, Maya?"

It was too late for Phoenix, the damage was done, the shine in his wife's eyes as she saw the rides and games, the way she looked at him.

"Niiickkkkkk," she began in that whiny pleading voice of hers.

"No," Phoenix repeated, causing all three girls to begin yelling at him.

Alex had to give a little chuckle at the whole scene, he was stepping in a real family who had problems and joys like any other. But that made him feel out of place, after all, it was Leo who had a bond with this family, not him. He wanted to make himself as unseen as possible, so he kinda shrunk against the wall.

"Mr. Lionheart, tell my daddy it's for the good of the family to go the theme park?" Trucy asked.

Alex gave a start, it seems little Trucy had other plans for him. He glanced back and forth between everyone and struggled to find the right words.

"I think…with everything happening… it may be good to…have some fun?" Alex said, watching Trucy's face light up and Phoenix's frown.

"It's not that," Phoenix said, "We don't have the money right now, I mean, I would _like_ to go, but…we can't."

Trucy's face fell and Pearl plopped back into her chair, Maya gave Phoenix a glare and went back into the kitchen. Alex felt something inside him twitch with guilt, Phoenix seemed to have the same feeling, he opened his mouth a few times but nothing came out. But soon the small silence was broken with a yelp, Maya ran out of the kitchen, holding the purple envelope in her hands.

"Nick you'll be singing a new tune when you hear this: we just got a free pass to the Island of Arcades!" Maya cheered, waving a yellow slip around.

"What?!" Phoenix yelped, taking the envelope from her and reading it out. "It's…addressed to Maya Fey…Fey?"

"That's odd," Alex noted, "Does she go by her surname for business purposes?"

"No I don't," Maya answered, "But the address doesn't matter, it's a slip for a free pass for my family and four friends!"

"Wow," Phoenix scratched his head. "That's a pretty…generous offer."

"Yeah…" Alex said, however he was thinking more about the address on the card, it would have to have been from someone who didn't Maya was married… but who?

While his old detective skills were working hard, Phoenix was now realizing that he didn't have a real reason to avoid this.

"So, I guess we're going to the Island of Arcades?" Phoenix chuckled nervously.

"Yes, it would be rude to not use such a lovely gift," Maya grinned.

"Yeah, yeah!" Pearl chimed in, "Very rude Mr. Nick, you don't want to be rude do you?"

"No…but…" Phoenix began.

Trucy grabbed the leg of his suit and tugged on it, "Please daddy?"

"I…oh all right," Phoenix sighed. "We can go."

All three of the girls let out a cheer, Maya ran over to the kitchen phone and began dialing numbers.

"I'm going to invite Cody and Doyle too, they deserve a break," she said with finality as she dialed the numbers.

"Um, what about the other two?" Phoenix asked, indicating to the other two passes.

Maya gave Alex an odd grin as she looked at the passes, "Alex…want to go with us?"

"I'm not good with theme parks," he said simply.

"Please?" Maya asked, "It would be fun, for all of us."

Alex sighed, there she goes again, trying to incorporate him in something he didn't want to do. She was adamant in trying to involve him in things, from picnics to gatherings, or at least get him to sit down in a company meeting. Maybe she had it stuck in her head that he was like his younger brother, or maybe she just wanted to get him involved with things rather than sit and be alone. He was annoyed and flattered at the same time by the gestures, Phoenix didn't seem to be the one trying, maybe he just respected his space…or maybe he knew he wasn't Leo and he couldn't ever replace him.

"…Fine." Alex decided, "I'll go."

Maya grinned and continued dialing numbers, Phoenix had an odd look on his face and went to cleaning the kitchen. Trucy and Pearl ran off somewhere, probably to plan whatever they were going to do for tomorrow night and gather money up. Alex was going to leave, but then he remembered what else he had to do.

"Phoenix, Doyle wanted me to tell you something…"

Alex went ahead and explained what happened, Doyle's mysterious call and how this person 'is always watching us'. Phoenix had a frown and a look of shock on his face when he finished explaining things to him.

"Did this person leave any sort of name?" Phoenix asked.

"No, and Doyle didn't recognize his caller ID," Alex answered. "So it can't be anyone we know."

"Maybe we should be glad we have the extra help?" Maya said from the kitchen.

"Or maybe this guy is trying to set us up for something," Alex countered. "Until we know who this guy is I suggest we proceed with caution."

"I…agree," Phoenix nodded, "If this person wants to help us then fine, but let's be wary, just in case."

With a silent agreement Alex left the house, leaving the two Wrights in the kitchen. Phoenix picked up the envelope that the tickets came in and examined them. _This is a bit of an odd letter. It could just be a mistake, but…something about it is fishy._ He sighed to himself and set the letter down, then he just remember something.

"Hey Maya, what about the fourth ticket? Who are you bringing?" he asked.

Maya just flashed him a grin, "Don't worry, I've got it handled."

* * *

May 6th, 8:30pm,

Island of Arcades,

Entrance,

"I still don't understand why you invited me," Edgeworth asked testily.

"Because you need some time off too Mr. Edgeworth," Maya countered, unfazed by his tone.

Phoenix had to chuckle, he couldn't imagine Mr. Edgeworth in an arcade of all places. But Maya was the one who sent him the invitation, put on the pouty look, give the 'look I'm pregnant so just make it easier on you and me and just go' look as well. So he couldn't really refuse, especially if he was actually free that night.

They had to use a boat to cross the massive lake to the island, it was massive as well.

_(Play: Happy Fun! — Two Hornpipes (Tortuga), Hans Zimmer)_

Tall towering arcades, lots of flashing lights, some strung on strings and hung from the towers. It was very bright and colorful.

"I hate this place," Edgeworth decided, frowning at the colorful displays and loud music.

"Hello there!" A loud voice shout out, as a man appeared in front of them.

He had a big colorful afro, a yellow jumpsuit, a salt and pepper beard and big goofy sunglasses. He walked over to the group after talking to another family.

"Welcome to the Island of Arcades, I— it's you!" the man suddenly yelped when he saw Phoenix.

Edgeworth raised an eyebrow, "Do you know this man Wright?"

"No, no I don't," Phoenix frowned. "How do you know me?"

"How do I know you? By reputation of course, you're the famous Phoenix Wright," The man said, he seemed to have recovered from the shock. "The ace attorney of Los Angeles!"

"Oh, well," Phoenix chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. "I don't know if I'm the _ace attorney_…"

"Don't let it get to your head Wright," Edgeworth interrupted. "So, are you the owner of this establishment?"

"Yes…well, I co-own it," the man admitted. "But I'm the guy in charge of the actual park, my partner's the guy who does the books."

"So, what's your name?" Maya asked, trying to make sure Pearl and Trucy didn't walk off to the games.

"I'm Ulrich Fei," he announced, "One of the founders of this park."

"Fey? As in….the Kurain dynasty 'Fey'?" Doyle asked.

"The what?" Ulrich asked curiously.

"The Feys are the heads of the Spirit Channeling Technique," Doyle explained, "Are you…related?"

"What? No, I haven't even heard of…" Ulrich began, scratching his chin thoughtfully.

Alex paused and asked, "How do you spell your last name?"

"Hm? Oh it's F-E-I," he spelled, still looking distressed.

There was a collective 'oh' amongst the group, Ulrich also looked a little more relaxed as well. Returning to his cheery self and running back to bring someone along, he wore a black business suit and tie, a frown upon his face and small bags under his eyes.

"Meet the other creator of the Arcade Island, Dean Pressed, say hello Dean." Ulrich prompted.

"………………………………Hello," he said quietly.

_Yikes,_ Phoenix thought, _How…depressing. _The man named Dean shuffled a bit before walking off. Ulrich sighed and turned to the group, once again bearing a bright smile.

"Anyway, I hope you all have fun!"

"I doubt it…" Miles frowned, walking into the park.

_(End: Happy Fun!- Two Hornpipes (Tortuga))_

* * *

May 6th, 8:45pm,

Island of Arcades,

Bar,

Phoenix and the others walked into the park, Pearl and Trucy left with Maya and Cody to the games, and the guys headed over to the bar.

_(Play: LA Nights— Café Chronos, Time Hollow)_

The bar was an indoor area, no doors leading in so it was an open area. Low green lamp lights were hung from the ceiling, giving the room a warm feel to it, wood chairs, tables, a stools completed the homey warm feeling you got when you walked in. The smells of fried chicken, fries, wings, and all sorts of foods filled their nostrils. The group approached the counter and sat in the stools. A bartender walked up and they placed their orders.

"Pepsi please, not diet," Alex added.

"A beer is fine," Doyle said.

"Tea, very strong," Edgeworth asked.

"Um…nothing for me," Phoenix said.

One of the bartenders disappeared and returned with a Pepsi, some strong tea, and a Budweiser. Doyle nodded and opened the bottle, Alex waved his hand a bit and the metal tab pulled itself open and he poured it into a glass.

"I've been meaning to ask, is that telekinesis the level of a Joined-Spirit?" Doyle regarded.

"Actually…it's not even telekinesis," Alex corrected, waving his hand at a wood chair, which didn't even budge. "It's magnetism, I can control metal."

Phoenix's eyes widened and he leaned over a bit, "Did you always have that power?"

"No… no I got it when I came back to life," Alex sighed. "I don't know where it came from really."

_(End: LA Nights— Café Chronos)_

Another mystery it seems, they do seem to surround the Lionhearts. Phoenix was feeling thirsty and decided to order a drink after all, waving his arms a bit he managed to call a raven haired woman's attention.

"Yes, may I help…Mr. Wright?!" The woman gasped.

Phoenix paused, it took him a minute to place the face with a name, but when he did he gasped as well.

"Ana Rose?"

Upon hearing the name Alex tensed up, Edgeworth looked over in the direction and his own eyes widened as well. Phoenix was in shock, it's been years since he spoke to her.

"It's good to see you again," Ana said, resting on the counter.

"Yeah, glad to see you too," Phoenix nodded. "How are you doing these days?"

"I'm…coping," she said sadly. "Abby is as well, we're just moving our way."

"Abby?" Edgeworth asked, "Is she here?"

"Hm? Oh she's over there," she pointed over to the table next to the bar, there was a girl with a pink shirt and skirt.

Abby lifted her head and when she saw Phoenix she bounded toward him and hugged his leg.

"Mr. Wright, it's good to see you!"

Alex began to feel worried, he lowered his head so no one could see his face. He knew Abby would recognize him, and if Ana stared at him long enough she would too. This would cause a lot of awkward problems, and awkward questions. Doyle could sense his nervousness and decided to keep Ana's focus on Phoenix.

"I'm Doyle," he introduced himself. "Phoenix and Maya told me about you."

"Oh is Maya here?" Ana asked, looking around.

"Oh no, she's with Pearl and Trucy," he laughed. "You've never met Trucy have you?"

"No I can't say I have," she smiled, washing a cup in the small sink and setting it on the cup rack.

"Well, I think you'll like her. She's got a lot of life, but she's very sweet," Phoenix said.

"I can't wait," she said, walking back to the counter. "But Miles, why are you here of all places?"

"I was… invited, by Mrs. Wright," Edgeworth muttered, taking another sip of his tea.

"Sounds like she hasn't changed a bit," Ana smiled softly, and to Phoenix and Alex's horror, she walked over to Alex.

"May I get you a drink?" she asked.

He kept his face staring at the ground and muttered, "A refill of soda will be nice…"

"Hm?" she asked, tilting her head a bit, her raven hair drooping over her shoulders. "Speak up please."

Alex cleared his throat and was about to speak again when he heard footsteps, Ana turned away from him and smiled at the people in the door.

"Maya, good to see you again!"

They heard an audible gasp and a small squeal, Maya ran as fast as she could over to the counter to greet her.

"Ana! I can't believe it, it's been years! How are you? How's Abby?"

Ana laughed at all of her questions and waved her hand to calm her, "Easy, we're good, we're all good. Right Abby?"

Abby nodded and hugged Maya, "Yes it's good to see you again."

"Where's Pearl and Trucy?" Phoenix asked.

"They're with Cody," Maya answered, she pointed outside where the young lawyer was with the two girls. "We have so much to catch up on, where to begin…how I know, how about—,"

"Excuse me," a voice spoke.

They all turned to the doorway and Alex found himself wishing to be anywhere but here, standing in the entrance was Carrie Stone. She appeared to be confused, as if this wasn't the place she was heading to.

"Is this the main office?" she asked.

"No," Ana laughed, "This is the bar, hello Ms. Stone."

Phoenix looked back at the two of them, did Ana know Carrie Stone? The prosecutor stared at her for hours before lights clicked on in her head.

"Hello Ms. Rose," Carrie looked around the bar in confusion and groaned.

"Not again…" she sighed, "Wish I had a map…oh wait, I lost it."

Alex let out a low chuckle, this was typical Carrie. He thought for a moment and turned to her.

"The main offices are near the entrance, right down the path you came in."

"Oh thank you… oh it's you," she gasped. "What are you doing here?"

"…Drinking?" Alex raised an eyebrow, "They make tea here too…"

That piqued her interest, she made a small smile and walked over to the bar and ordered some tea. Ana disappeared into the back room and came out with a cup of brewed tea, Carrie took a sip and she shifted her small framed glasses a bit.

"Not bad…did you brew this?"

"I got it from one of your recipes," she explained, walking back to Alex (you could almost hear him groan).

"Now, you wanted a refill of soda? Here you— crap!" she yelled as the cup spilt soda on the counter, which dripped onto Alex's pant leg.

He moved back a bit out of the cold shock and grabbed some napkins to dry himself with, as he was drying himself he heard a small voice next to him.

"…It can't be…"

Alex realized his face was in perfect view now, he turned and saw Abby was staring at him wide eyed. She stepped back a bit in fear as he stood up.

"That's impossible…you can't be here…" she shook her head in denial.

Phoenix stood from his chair and walked over to them, "Wait Abby, this is a friend of mine, his name is—,"

"Alex?" she asked softly, still stepping back.

Alex knew there was no convincing Abby out of it, the girl was headstrong…like her father. "Abby listen to me, I—,"

"Stay back!" Abby yelled, "You can't be here, you can't!"

She turned around and ran out the room, brushing past a man in a security uniform and a woman in a red racer's outfit.

"Oh! Look at that girl run Ronnie," the woman exclaimed.

"She's running fast, or is she jogging, it's hard to tell…." The rest of his speech was quiet and near inaudible, but Phoenix recognized the two of them.

"Ron and Desiree Delite?" Phoenix gasped, "What are…?"

"Mr. Delight," Ana called. "Please follow her, she could get hurt."

"Okay," Ron nodded, looking for the girl and running off after her.

"I'll help," Alex said, running out as well.

Desiree watched the two men run off and walked in the bar, tossing her brown hair as she walked in and taking a seat at an empty barstool.

"Who was that girl?" she asked.

"That was Abby," Phoenix explained. "She and her mom are friends of mine."

"Ana's kid?" Desiree's eyes widened, smiling at Ana. "That's your daughter? She's a cutie."

Ana nodded, but her attention was on her missing daughter. You could tell by the way she kept missing the cup when pouring Edgeworth's refill. Cursing, she went back into the kitchen to get more. Phoenix was also thinking about Abby too, she reacted so badly when she saw Alex…would Ana react just the same way? Just then Pearl, Trucy, and Cody stumbled in the bar, the poor lawyer looked tired from being around the two kids.

"Mr. Nick, we had so much fun I…" but she froze when she saw Desiree right next to Phoenix and glared.

_Oh god no, _Phoenix went pale, waving his arms frantically, but it was too late. Pearl ran over and punched him in the gut, then the shoulders.

"Oh could you Mr. Nick! And you're married!" she said as she threw more punches, "I'll never forgive you!"

And she threw one last uppercut and Phoenix flew off his barstool and crashed on the ground, Desiree had her hand to her mouth and although Maya was scolding, there was a sly smile on her face.

Edgeworth smirked, "The night is now looking up."

* * *

May 6th, 8:55pm,

Island of Arcades,

8-bit Square,

"Abby wait!" Alex called out, running ahead of Ron Delite and catching her arm.

"Let me go, let me go!" she squirmed, some people were beginning to stare.

"It's okay, I'm her uncle," Alex assured everyone, Abby wrenched her arm free and glared at him.

"You tried to kill me…" she said, hate in her voice. "I needed your help and you tried to kill me!"

"Abby, I wasn't myself, Manfred was controlling me," Alex tried to explain. "I couldn't stop myself."

"You couldn't even save my dad, why didn't you move him out of the way or something!" Abby yelled hysterically slamming her fists on his chest, "Why didn't you save him, why are you alive?!"

"I…I don't know," Alex stammered, "But your father, Leo wouldn't want you to—,"

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" she screeched, continuing to hit him until she was tired and slumped against him, crying.

"I hate you," she muttered, and at that moment Alex felt something break in his heart.

Just then bright lights appeared and load music played, soon the speakers blared with a voice.

"Ladies and gentlemen! This is the moment you have been waiting for, the main attraction to the Island of Arcades, the ultimate video game!"

The main attraction was a large podium with a massive video screen, it was about as tall as the building that holds ads in Broadway and just as narrow, yellow lights stringed around the area and flashing lights on the stand.

Lots of fireworks shot up and there was loud cheering, Alex was barely looking at it when he saw two shapes at the top. Just then one of the shapes began dropping rapidly, falling through the yellow lights and slamming into the stand. Cheering turned into screaming, people ran away in fear as the figure was being electrocuted. Alex instinctively moved Abby out of the way and out of the moving mob.

"We can talk later," he said simply, running back to see who was at the top. The giant searchlights around the island focused on that spot and revealed the second shape.

* * *

Meanwhile…

Doyle was about to lift his beer for another sip when a roaring pain in his head erupted, he yelled out and his head hit the bar counter, his eyes unfocused and his body twitching. Phoenix nearly tripped out of his seat as he ran to him.

"Doyle!" he yelled, trying to catch the man's attention out of his strange convulsion.

Finally the man stopped and was panting heavily, he looked at the group of Wright and CO. grimly as he said these words.

"It's happening."

* * *

Back to Alex…

The lights focused on the second figure, and Alex nearly yelled out at who was at top.

It was Ana Rose.

To be continued

* * *

That's it, sorry it took so long for writing and editing. Please review and comment, no flaming thank you.


	9. Turnabout Arcade: pt2

Yep, I'm back. I've been taking College courses to increase my writing ability and I hope it shows. I'm hoping to update this more and a bit more consistently, but I can't make any promises.

Here's chapter 9 of Guardian Angels.

* * *

Turnabout Arcade part 2  
The bonus round: murder

* * *

May 6th, 9:00pm,  
Island of Arcades,  
8-bit Square,

Alex was expecting a few things, but Ana on top of a building where a body flew down and hit an electrical conduct was not one of them. But he had to move fast, the danger may not be over yet. He looked around and saw a door leading up the tower she was on top of. He opened the door and inside was a large amount of generators, all of them frizzing out do to something messing with their systems._ No time for this now, I need to find the service stairs, _he thought as he ran through the room, avoiding the hazardous sparks from the generators. After nearly being electrocuted he bolted up the steps to the top of the tower. After clearing three sets of steps he found himself on a small catwalk that over looked a series of gears. It looked like gears from an old clock, a big clock. _That's odd… maybe they remolded it to a screen. Huh, is one of hands broken?_ Alex stopped mid-step to see one of the broken hands and broken glass window. But then he remembered the urgency and pressed forward.

He made it to the top floor and kicked the door open, the top floor was empty except for Ana standing dangerously near the edge. He slowly moved up to her, trying not to make an loud noises to scare her. She didn't seem to hear him so he got close enough to grab her arms tightly and pull her away from the edge. She yelped and resisted his grip, thinking he was an enemy.

"Ms. Rose, Ana, I'm a friend of Phoenix's!" Alex yelled, he had no idea why he said it. But it was the first thing that came to his head.

It seemed to work though, she stopped fighting his grip and kind of went limp in his arms. Like a scared child waiting to be led by her parent. Alex knew people in this situation needed to spoken to calmly, despite the panic of the situation.

"Ana, the tower is in a dangerous fritz of electricity. I don't think I can bring you back down and not get hurt, so we're going to wait until they shut the power off and help to arrive. Okay?"

Ana nodded numbly and Alex led her next to a small part of the wall where they could sit down. Once she was seated he found himself a spot where it was dark enough so she couldn't really identify his face. The two of them could hear panicked yells and screams, and soon there was darkness.

"They shut down the generator now." Alex stated

"Can we go down?" Ana asked quietly.

"No, it would be dangerous without a flashlight." Alex sighed, "We'll be here for awhile."

There was a small silence before Ana spoke up from the darkness, "How do you know Mr. Wright?"

Alex blinked at the question, it was fast and a little accusatory. He decided to tell her the truth of it. "I work for him. I gather information for him during a case so he can use it in court."

"Mr. Wright? He always struck me as a do-it-himself-guy," Ana said skeptically.

"Yeah he does seem to, he always comes out to investigate anyway," Alex answered. "But I'm there to provide the extra helping hand."

"What did you say your name was…?" Ana asked suddenly, Alex was having a hard time keeping up with her questions.

"Connor Blazen." Alex replied, deciding to stick with the fake name he used awhile back. "Mr. Wright employed me two months ago."

"So you've been with the firm for awhile then," Ana replied.

"Yes, I'm sorry to ask but why are these questions so important to you?" Alex asked, feeling the slight pressure from the woman's sudden questions. But in a way he also saw what Leo loved in this woman, and why he treasured her the way he did.

"…I'm scared." her voiced said softly.

There was loud noises and thumps from below them.

"Scared of what?" Alex asked.

"…They're going to think I did it." her voice sounded choked.

"Did what?"

The sounds were definitely getting louder, they were going to be here soon.

"What do you think?!" Ana screeched, starling the older Lionheart. "They're going to think I killed that man, they're going to lock me away and…and…Abby, oh Abby."

She lowered her head and sobs came from her, Alex immediately walked over to her and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Ana, they are not going to find you Guilty for this murder." Alex said, he could not help but think of Phoenix as he said this. "I'm not going to let them."

"You promise…?" Ana asked, her head still lowered.

Alex was able to get these next few words out before Gumshoe and Ema burst in with several officers, "I promise."

Alex was only half aware of Gumshoe asking them what happened, it was only when Ema came and gently removed Alex's hands from her shoulder that he was aware of their presence.

"I need you two to stay here until we've had a look at things," Ema said, her voice clear over the police chatter. "Okay?"

Alex nodded numbly and sat back down, waiting for the police to finish investigating. They waited for what it seemed to be hours, although he probably guessed it was at least twenty minutes, until Gumshoe and Ema walked to them.

"Ma'am… there was a body thrown from the top of the tower. And I have several witnesses describe someone like you on the tower, so that means I have to place you under arrest."

"What?! No, no I didn't do it!" Ana began to panic, she moved to stand up but Alex caught her mid action.

"Ana, calm down-,"

"No, no, please don't take me in! I didn't do it!" She began to cry, "I can't go through this again, not again, please don't make me…"

Detective Gumshoe looked unsure how to handle the situation, but Ema seemed to. She walked up to her and spoke.

"Ana… if you really didn't do it then you will be set free, you are innocent right?" she asked softly, when Ana nodded she continued. "Then do not worry, besides… I'm sure Mr. Wright will stand by your side if things get to court."

She seemed to draw strength from that, taking a deep breath and allowing herself to calm down…if only a little. Alex slowly released his hands from her shoulder and the officers cuffed her. Gumshoe led Alex downstairs through the tower to outside where he was surprised by the presence of the Wright and Company crew. Whom upon seeing the presence of Alex they seemed to jolt to life. Waving from him to come to them, he paused a bit before slowly walking to the group.

"Hey, what's going on? What happened?" Phoenix asked when Alex was within ear distance.

_(Play: A Melancholy Moment -It's So Wonderful-, Takeharu Ishimoto)_

"They arrested Ana, on suspicion for murder." Alex stated right off the bat.

Phoenix's face went grim and Maya's eyes widened, Cody however went right to the next question. "Why did they arrest her and not you?"

"Oh I'm sure I'll have some questions to answer for… but Gumshoe said something about several witnesses seeing Ana on top of the tower as the body dropped." he explained, he could almost see the gears in Cody's brain churn as he spoke. "If there is any other evidence then I have yet to hear of it."

"Looks like I'm going to make a stop at the Detention Center," Phoenix said, "There's no way Ana would kill someone like this, not after what she's been through."

"What do you mean?" Cody asked, "You're not thinking of defending her are you?"

"That's exactly what I'm going to do," Phoenix nodded, "Ana is a friend of mine and she needs help, and that's what I'm going to do."

"But what if she did it?" Cody retorted, "What if she's Guilty?"

"I don't care!" Phoenix said, "She's my friend and I believe her even to the final verdict, I have to believe in her innocence."

Maya had to smile a bit, the Phoenix she fell in love with was showing even during a dark time. She snuck over and slipped her hand into his, earning a surprised, but an appreciative look from him. He turned his head to the group and said with hard determination.

"Gang, we got a case on our hands. This is what we've been waiting for, let's get to work."

_(End: A Melancholy Moment -It's So Wonderful-, Takeharu Ishimoto)_

* * *

May 7th, 7:30AM,  
Detention Center,

Phoenix woke up early that morning managed to tell his barely awake wife he was heading to the detention center, and slipped on his suitjacket and jeans. He made sure he was quiet as he left the house, although he did stub his toe on a bowling ball in the family room. _Why does this house have a bowling ball in the middle of the family room?!_ Phoenix thought, moaning at the thought of his aching toe as he made his way to his car and drove off to the detention center. When he arrived he limped inside and explained why he was here, after signing his name on the sign in sheet and he went into the visitors room. He sat in the chair and waited for Ana to appear in the room across from them. The corner of his eye caught something moving and saw a familiar woman crossing the room. She sat in the chair and picked up the phone used to converse with the person on the other side. Phoenix followed her cue and spoke first.

"How are you doing?"

"…I've had better mornings," she admitted, then bursting out with, "How is Abby?"

"Abby is fine," Phoenix answered, "We got her to stay with us, Maya practically had wrestle with Gumshoe to let him do so."

She chuckled weakly and gave a sad smile, "I can see Maya doing just that."

There was a small awkward silence before Ana sighed in a beaten, sad way. "I get to see you and Maya after all these years and this happens."

"But it wasn't your fault, you didn't do it." Phoenix said firmly, fighting the uprising feeling of déjà vu.

"Who would believe me?" Ana said quietly, Phoenix nearly had to strain his ears to hear it. "Nearly everybody saw me on that ledge, and with the body now turning up they're going to find me guilty for sure!"

"I believe you!" Phoenix interrupted. "Just like I believed in you those years ago."

"Did you really?" she asked, "Or did you just did what Leo asked you to?"

Phoenix flinched a bit, but his face remained as determined as it did before. "Even if he didn't ask me I would have done it anyway."

"But…" she began, only to get cut off by him again.

"No 'but's, you have a daughter to take care of. And I'm going to make sure you get to." Phoenix said, "I want you to have the documents requesting me to be your attorney ready by this afternoon. Make sure you talk to Gumshoe or Ema Skye about it, not any other officer, understand?"

Ana was a little surprised by the strange request, but she nodded. "Alright, what are you going to do?"

Phoenix gave her a smirk, "Hitting the pavement of course, my team will handle evidence. We'll be ready for tomorrow's trial, you wait and see."

Ana seemed to gather strength from his words and nodded, her slouching posture straightened, Phoenix could almost feel the newly found warmth. Until he saw the guard at the door motion that their time was up, feeling a little irritated at the short amount of time he said his farewell and hung up the phone. He lingered a bit as he watched the guard take Ana back to her holding area, he hated that he had to fight rising paranoia because of a security officer. As he was leaving the detention center he thought about the law, and what it used to be to him. The law used to be a symbol of justice and peace, police officers would find criminals, Defense Attorneys and Prosecutors used to discover the truth in court and justice would be passed. That's how it used to be, or how he used to perceive it. Nowadays he was suspicious of everyone, officers, Judges, and even security guards. With this evil group infiltrating the very foundations of the law, who could he trust in this madness? Could he even trust his friends?

_If I can't trust anyone I will have no right to call myself a lawyer,_ Phoenix thought, _I have to hold onto my trust… and my faith._

Phoenix paused as he was about to open his car door and sighed, for an average month in spring it felt quite…chilly. Hopefully the weather, like his mood, would warm up.

* * *

May 7th, 8:30AM,  
Island of Arcades,  
8-bit Square,

While Phoenix was leaving the Detention Center, Alex, Doyle, and Cody were at the Island of Arcades. Starting their investigation until Phoenix arrived.

"This place is a wreck…" Doyle stated, gesturing to the mess of heavy equipment and cables strung out all over the place. "One falling body did all this?"

"I'm sure the panic of screaming people knocked some things over as well…" Alex answered, looking over at the direction of the old clock tower. "We should see if we can get in there?"

"With the police roaming about?" Doyle pointed out, "Don't forget, our enemies are in the police department."

"You know times were better when people had the illusion police were here to help," Alex said as he scoped the surroundings before sneaking past the yellow tape.

"You would prefer to remain ignorant of this?" Doyle asked as he and Cody not-so-stealthily followed him.

Alex gave a strange smirk as he said, "Maybe I would…"

Doyle didn't have a response for that as the three of them attempted to blend in among the police officers, they did very well surprisingly, the officers were either not paying attention or were absorbed in their job. The three of them were heading up the steps when they passed by the old clockwork gears they saw earlier. As well as Gumshoe talking with a familiar man with an Afro.

"…I see pal, and do you think that Ms. Rose would have any grudges on the victim Mr. Pressed?" Gumshoe asked, frowning as he jotted notes down.

Alex jolted to a near stop, Dean Pressed...he was the other manager in charge of the park, he was the victim?! Doyle and Cody were sharing similar expressions of surprise as Ulrich Fei answered Gumshoe's question.

"No, I can't think of any," Ulrich Fei replied, he seemed quite distressed. "Ms. Rose only met the man once, I can't imagine why...oh."

That didn't sit well with Alex, small revelations like that normally didn't bode well for an investigation. Gumshoe seemed to think so as well, the way he spoke showed that he was reluctant to ask this question.

"Did you remember something?"

Ulrich nodded, "Yes...well, there was talks about...letting go some of the workers."

Alex felt his gut wrench but he did not say anything, since they didn't seem to notice them saying something would cut their chances of hearing valuable information. Cody had whipped out a notebook and was pressing his pen to the paper, ready to jot down the information.

"Letting go? But the theme park barely opened, there would be no need to let go workers," Gumshoe said.

Ulrich fidgeted a little, "Well...we spent a LOT of money on this theme park, Dean and I were afraid we'd wouldn't make the money we thought we would. Dean said if we didn't make the money we should have made we may have to let a few workers go."

"Was Ms. Rose a candidate if the money didn't reach the certain amount?" Gumshoe asked, Ulrich shrugged.

"Can't say, Dean was the one who knew the books. None of the other employees knew about this either, strictly between him and me."

Cody was the first among the group to realize the advantage and disadvantages in court, this could certainly give Ms. Rose ammo to get her arrested. In that same breath though, it would be good for the Defense to make note that no one knew about the decision to let other workers go, or if Ms. Rose was even on the list at all. Gumshoe was a little unsure of how he felt about the information, he closed his own notebook and gave a weak smile at Ulrich.

"Thank you for your time," he said, turning to walk away when he noticed the others. "Gwaa!" he yelped, stumbling back. "When did you three get here?!"

The three men looked at each other and shrugged. "I dunno," Doyle spoke, "Five minutes ago?"

Gumshoe had the expression of a man who would love nothing more than to slap the handcuffs on the wrists of these three for surprising him. He let it go though as he noticed Cody writing on his notebook.

"I see...you guys are gonna defend Ms. Rose?" he received his answer by the collective nods, "Man, I feel sorry for you pal."

"Excuse me?" Doyle asked.

"Department wants one of the best Prosecutors on this case, insisted so by the chief himself." he said, which caused Alex to narrow his eyes. "He's also sending almost every available man out here to comb the island, he's pretty hellbent on getting this wrapped up."

"So whose gonna be the Prosecutor?" Cody asked, "It's not gonna be Prosecutor Stone is it?"

Alex resisted every urge to smack Cody upside the head for his tone, but kept himself in check as Gumshoe shook his head. "No...um...well, there's a reason why I feel sorry for you... the Prosecutor for this case...he's got quite the record."

"Of wins?" Cody asked.

"Not...quite." Gumshoe struggled, "If we mean wins as in getting accused found Guilty? Then the answer is no. Now if we're talking about finding the killer...defendant or witness...then yes, he's got the record of wins in that department."

"You gonna tell us who he is?" Alex asked impatiently, not caring for the detective's vagueness on giving a name.

"His name... is..."

* * *

May 7th, 9:33AM,  
Island of Arcades,  
Entrance,

It took Phoenix a half an hour to get back home, in which his wife informed him that the others were at the Island already investigating for clues. It took no more than a minute for Maya to force Phoenix in letting him bring Trucy, Pearl, Abby, and herself along with him as he went to the Island. Another half an hour later they arrived at the Island entrance, where Police were scarce with the exception of security. Phoenix was anxious to get to the crime scene and do some snooping around, however he kept getting pulled aside by his wife's requests.

"No Maya for the last time, I will not put a banner on our car that says 'Hormonal Pregnant Woman, clear the way or die'." Phoenix said exasperatedly, as he helped Trucy out of the boat they rode to the Island. "Besides that I'm pretty sure you would get pulled aside by police."

"Oh Nick you're such a killjoy," she said as he rolled his eyes, "Not to mention rude, you won't listen to a simple request to the woman bearing your child."

"_My_ child?" Phoenix sputtered, "It's half your child too!" he yelled, in which Maya gave a dreamy sigh.

"I know and it will be spectacular...even if the baby is half you," she smiled as he looked at her with an angry expression. "Kidding, kidding!"

Trucy and Abby giggled a little at the two of them, while Pearl was a little uncomfortable.

"Mr. Nick, you shouldn't be arguing with Mystic Maya. It's bad for Mystic Maya if she is stressed all the time..."

"We're not arguing Pearls," Phoenix assured her, "It's just a little disagreement, Maya and I have them all the time and it's perfectly normal."

"H-huh?" Pearl looked at him oddly, "But in the movies-"  
"Real life's different than what's on a flick Pearly," Maya assured, when she looked up though she saw Phoenix and Trucy with their jaws dropped. No one could blame them, after all this was probably the first time Maya admitted that movies were not real. This continued for about three minutes before Maya said something. "Alright you two you can stop now before I go all hormonal and—"

"Pardon me."

Maya stopped mid-sentence at the strange voice, Phoenix managed to snap out of his shock to look at the speaker. The voice originated from the door to the manager's office, a lone person was there, the person was wearing an Overcoat that seemed to be extra lengthy at the end so that it flowed a little, under the overcoat was suit jacket similar to what Phoenix preferred to wear except it was a metallic silver color. However, that was not that most interesting feature. The most notable fact about this person's appearance was the fact that he wore a hood over his face. The only facial features visible was is jaw and a little bit of his nose, no other real defining features though.

"This park is off-limits, I'm sorry to ruin your day of family fun but..." the person stopped mid-sentence as he got a good look at the group in front of him. "...I see. My mistake."

Phoenix was confused, "Your...mistake?"

"I assumed you were coming to the park unaware of the situation, but after looking at you I realize I was mistaken. Then again I can recognize a lawyer when I see one. I assume you are here to defend the accused?"

"Well don't worry," Phoenix waved his hand dismissively, "Happens to— wait, how did you know I was a lawyer?"

"Besides the badge on your collar? Your reputation." the person explained, walking up to Phoenix. "You are the legendary Phoenix Wright, the ace defense attorney in Los Angeles, are you not?"

Phoenix didn't realize he was that well known, but he nodded and rubbed the back of his head. "I guess introductions are pointless but...I'm Phoenix Wright."

The person slipped his hands into the pockets of his Overcoat as he spoke, "I am Ezlo. Ezlo Shade. A prosecutor."

_(Playing Ezlo's Theme: Justice Seeker – Don't be Afraid (Orchestra Version), Shiro Hamaguchi) _

"A prosecutor huh..." Phoenix said, "You...wouldn't happen to be the prosecutor for this case...would you?"

Ezlo gave a small smirk, "Possibly. I can also safely assume you are the Defense Lawyer for the defendant."

"Possibly," Phoenix responded as equally vague, "I can also 'assume' you are here because of the murder as well."

Ezlo chuckled, "Why else? High Prosecutor asked me to take the case and after looking it over I agreed."

_Edgeworth asked this guy to prosecute the case? How come?_ Phoenix thought, the man known as Ezlo gave a slippery smile.

"If it's you on this case...I feel a little more confident now." he said in an even voice, "The truth will be revealed if it's us two working together."

Ezlo turned around and seemly glided to the park, his overcoat flowed out and emphasized his already graceful movements. Phoenix tracked the moving ink colored shape as it steadily decreased in size, soon he disappeared in the park. Presumably to head to the crime scene and begin his work.

_(End Ezlo's Theme: Don't be Afraid (Orchestra Version))_

"Ezlo Shade..."

"I don't trust him," Abby said immediately, Trucy and Pearl didn't answer or voice their own statement so they weren't sure either.

Phoenix turned to his wife, her eyes were full of uncertainty and she was tugging at the corner of her Yukata. Her fingers grasping and tugging at the purple material, stretching the small corner her fingers were holding. Phoenix walked over to her and divided her attention away from assaulting the small fabric of her clothes.

"Maya...are you all right?" he asked.

Maya rotated her head to meet his face, her eyebrows made a small U shape as her expression retained a look of uncertainty. "I...feel like I heard that name before."

"Not like it's an easy name to forget," Phoenix nodded, "Where did you hear it from?"

"I...um...not sure....I think it was from the newspaper...no maybe a magazine, or was it online..." Maya trailed off quietly.

"Don't sweat it," Phoenix said reassuringly, "Edgeworth asked him to prosecute, I'll ask him about Ezlo later. Now come on we—"

Without any warning Maya bolted past him after exclaiming a loud 'oh!', she ran over to a stand of magazines and practically ripped one off the stand. Running back to Phoenix she pushed the magazine into his face.

"Here, right here!" she yelled energetically. The problem was Phoenix's vision was obscured by an undesired close up view of black text and white paper.

"Maya, I can't see," he waved his hands around, grabbing the ends of the paper and pulling it back so he could actually read the article.

The first thing that caught his attention was, obviously, the bold font headline.

**Elzo Shade, the Phoenix Wright of Prosecution?**

There was an odd swooping feeling that passed through him when he read his own name, but normally he was used to seeing his name in the paper at least once, maybe twice, a month. However finding his name, and reputation, being compared to this strange person made him feel funny. He directed his eyes below the headline and scanned the article.

**Article by: Slick Johnston**

** If there was ever an enigma in the world of law enforcement and criminal justice, it is found in one figure: Ezlo Shade. This mysterious prosecutor appeared to the public eyes about a half a year ago in Arkansas. No other alias, and wearing a mysterious hood over his face. A lawyer fresh out of law school, Ezlo's career may seem normal to the untrained eye, 5 wins and 9 losses, but the wonder of him is not in his court record. It is the result of every trial that makes him a mystery. In every trial Ezlo is in the criminal is indicted, whether if it's the accused or a witness trying to further place the blame on the accused. Ezlo finds the killer and sees justice done in the courtroom. This mysterious figure has often been compared to Los Angeles's own justice seeking attorney Phoenix Wright. Although both of them are on different sides, and use different methods, their goals in the courthouse are exactly the same. They seek the truth. And now Ezlo himself has come to Los Angeles at the request of the Head Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth to do some work on a few cases. How will this Prosecuting justice seeker fare in the courts, will he go toe-to-toe with Phoenix Wright himself? It shall be a court battle for the ages, the Ace versus the Rookie. Who will win? **

** Chief Jones of the Police Department gave us an exclusive interview on-**

Phoenix frowned, the rest the of article was an interview with Chief Jones that ended up being discussions on what the criminal justice system can expect from him, and so on and so forth. Phoenix folded the magazine shut and set it back neatly on the magazine rack, folding his arms and going into deep thought. _The Phoenix Wright of Prosecution huh, I'll be the judge of that soon enough. _

* * *

As usual, comments are welcome, constructive criticism is very encouraged for I can use all the advice I can get. If you have any tips for me how to improve please tell me so. Until next chapter!


End file.
